Heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine elicits similar antibody response as standard 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine in adult patients with RA treated with immunomodulating drugs.

The objectives of the study were to compare antibody response in immunosuppressed patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after vaccination with heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) to that of RA patients and healthy controls vaccinated with 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) and to study the impact of disease and/or treatment characteristics and type of vaccine on antibody response following pneumococcal vaccination in patients with RA. In total, 253 RA patients treated with methotrexate (MTX), anti-TNF blockers as monotherapy or anti-TNF + MTX were vaccinated with a single dose (0.5 ml) of PCV7. In addition, 149 RA patients receiving corresponding treatments and 47 healthy controls were vaccinated with a single dose (0.5 ml) of PPV23. Serotype-specific IgG to 23F and 6B were measured at vaccination and 4-6 weeks after vaccination using ELISA. Antibody response ratio (ARR), i.e. ratio between post-/prevaccination antibody levels, was compared between corresponding treatment groups. Differences in ARR were analysed using analysis of variance. Positive antibody response (posAR) was defined as equal to or greater than twofold increase in prevaccination antibody levels. Possible predictors of posAR were analysed using logistic regression model. Corresponding RA treatment groups showed similar ARR and posAR for both serotypes regardless of vaccine type. Higher age at vaccination and concomitant MTX were identified as predictors of impaired posAR for both serotypes tested, whereas type of vaccine did not influence posAR significantly. PCV7 elicits similar antibody response as PPV23 in patients with RA receiving immunosuppressive treatment. In RA patients, higher age and MTX treatment but not type of vaccine predicted impaired posAR.