In patients treated with rituximab, adenovirus-based vaccines that don’t induce a type 1 interferon (IFN-I) response will likely enable a better T-cell immune response than mRNA vaccines, German researchers suggest.

Their hypothesis is based on their studies of an influenza vaccine in people with RA, as well as other vaccines in mice, and has not yet been tested in patients being vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, although clinical trials are planned.

If their hypothesis holds, in Australia, this could mean that the AstraZeneca adenovirus-based vaccine may be better than the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine in encouraging a T-cell response in patients on rituximab.

As reported in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, the team studied T-cell expansion in rituximab-treated patients with RA after influenza vaccination, and in B cell-deficient mice after vaccination or infection with different vaccines or pathogens.