Rare COVID-19 Vaccine Complication Associated with Blood Spike Protein
According to a recent study conducted by a team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, young adults and adolescents who experienced rare cases of myocarditis after receiving an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine had elevated levels of the viral protein spike in their bloodstream. It did state, however, that the advantages of receiving a COVID-19 immunisation still vastly outweigh the disadvantages.
When the heart’s muscle tissue becomes inflamed, myocarditis results, frequently causing fatigue and chest pain. It is seen in a variety of illnesses, including as inflammatory disorders and viral infections. Myocarditis can, in extremely rare circumstances—roughly one or two instances per 100,000—be brought on by vaccination with an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine like those created by Pfizer and Moderna.
It is still unknown why mRNA vaccinations can cause myocarditis, and solving the riddle might result in more potent treatments for these uncommon cases.
In the study, which was published in the journal Circulation, the research team enrolled 61 adolescents and young adults: 45 healthy, immunised, and age-matched volunteers and 15 individuals who developed myocarditis after receiving the COVID-19 mRNA vaccinations from Pfizer or Moderna.
Following this, the researchers examined blood samples from the participants to profile their immune systems. This included testing for autoantibodies and antibodies against human viruses, examining T cells, and calculating the blood levels of cytokines and SARS-CoV-2 antigens like the spike protein.
The study team found that the myocarditis patients’ antibody and T cell responses, including antibody production, autoantibodies, and T cell profiles, were identical to those of the controls. However, scientists discovered that the spike protein had increased quantities in the blood of the myocarditis patients, seemingly evading the immune response.
The healthy controls, on the other hand, had no noticeable rise protein levels in their blood. The myocarditis patients also exhibited increased blood levels of troponin, a marker of heart damage, and cytokines, a marker of innate inflammation.
Lael Yonker, a paediatric pulmonary medicine expert at Mass General for Children and the study’s first author, said: “The danger of getting serious disease from acute infection considerably surpasses this small risk.” “While this discovery aids in our understanding of this potential problem, it has no impact on the balance between the risks and benefits of receiving the COVID vaccines. In infants infected with SARS-CoV-2, the incidence of myocarditis and other heart-related problems is significantly higher than the risk of myocarditis following immunisation.
The scientists also stated that it is yet unknown if the myocarditis seen in these patients was brought on by the circulating spike protein. Since myocarditis is a rare complication of other vaccines, such as those for smallpox, the spike protein may have been a signal of underlying immunological dysregulation causing the symptoms.
Because these cases are so uncommon, co-corresponding author David Walt, a professor at the Brigham’s Department of Pathology, said, “This was a precious sample set.” We thoroughly investigated them, which resulted in an intriguing discovery that may inform therapeutic approaches to treat post-vaccination myocarditis.
Post-vaccine myocarditis has been linked to a number of different factors, including abnormal immunological reactions to the vaccine, the creation of autoantibodies, or maybe spike proteins that mimic self-antigens and prompt the immune system to attack heart tissue. The fact that young men are more likely than young women to develop myocarditis is another factor at work, which may be explained by hormonal pathways. Yonker and Walt et al. discovered circulating spike protein in both male and female patients, yet, despite this.
The study’s limitations, including the small sample size of 16 in the myocarditis group, were noted by the authors. But considering how uncommon these occurrences are, that was to be expected.
In any event, the study keeps driving home the idea that COVID-19 vaccine involves significantly less hazards than actual COVID-19 infection, even for teenagers and young adults.
Post-vaccination myocarditis is typically moderate and self-resolving, according to Yonker. However, fresh information regarding the root of the problem can help us treat patients’ symptoms better or avoid this complication altogether.