medwireNews: Discontinuation of mycophenolate mofetil for at least 10 days is associated with an improved antibody response to COVID-19 vaccination among people with rheumatic diseases, research suggests.
In their analysis of 220 individuals treated with the agent, Sarah Frey (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA) and team found that the 22 people who held mycophenolate mofetil for at least 10 days (median 21 days) around the time of vaccination were significantly more likely to have a high antibody response to vaccination than the 21 people who held treatment for less than 10 days and the 177 who continued treatment, at rates of 64% versus 29% and 29%, respectively. A high antibody response was defined as titers of antibodies against the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein of at least 250 U/mL.
“We had hypothesized that withholding mycophenolate mofetil for a longer duration would result in an augmented post-vaccination antibody response, and we were encouraged when we saw consistent results in our data,” said study co-author Caoilfhionn Connolly (Johns Hopkins University) in a press release.
“We were concerned that the longer duration could potentially result in higher rates of disease flare, which we did not observe,” she added. Rates of disease flare requiring treatment were 4.5% in people who discontinued for at least 10 days, 9.5% for those with a shorter duration of discontinuation, and 6.8% for those who continued treatment.
The study was presented in a poster at ACR Convergence 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
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ACR Convergence 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA: November 10–14