ArticleClinical rheumatology2022
Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors significantly reduce the humoral vaccination response against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Article in Clinical rheumatology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rethinking secondary immunodeficiency: a cross-domain pathway framework for risk stratification.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Pooled it
- Systemic Therapy for Atopic Dermatitis in Children and Adolescents: A US Expert Consensus.Dermatology (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Guideline
- Vaccination Update and Specific Concerns for RA.Current rheumatology reports · 2025Review
- Comparison of T cell response to vaccination in rheumatic patients treated with Janus kinase inhibitors and TNF inhibitors.BMC rheumatology · 2025Article
- JAK Inhibitors and B Cell Function: A Comparative Study of Their Impact on Plasma Cell Differentiation, Cytokine Production, and Naïve B Cell Activation.European journal of immunology · 2025Article
- Outcomes of COVID-19 Omicron variant in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a nationwide Greek cohort study.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Impact of Immunomodulatory Therapy on COVID-19 Vaccine Response in Patients with Autoimmune Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases.Vaccines · 2024Review
- Modeling of antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccination in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Real-world data on tolerability of COVID-19 vaccination in patients with rheumatoid arthritis based on patient-reported outcomes.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2024Article
- COVID-19 Vaccination and Immunosuppressive Therapy in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases.Vaccines · 2023Review
- Considerations for Pharmacologic Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis in the COVID-19 Era: a Narrative Review.Current rheumatology reports · 2023Review
- Effect of DMARDs on the immunogenicity of vaccines.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2023Review
- Targeting the hallmarks of aging to improve influenza vaccine responses in older adults.Immunity & ageing : I & A · 2023Review
- Article
- Therapeutic implications of current Janus kinase inhibitors as anti-COVID agents: A review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesRecently, a number of studies have explored the possible attenuation of the immune response by disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our study objective was to investigate the presumed attenuated humoral response to vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with RA treated with Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors with or without methotrexate (MTX). The immune responses were compared with controls without RA.
methodThe humoral vaccination response was evaluated by determining titres of neutralising antibodies against the S1 antigen of SARS-CoV-2. One hundred and thirteen fully vaccinated individuals were included at 6 ± 1 weeks after second vaccination (BioNTech/Pfizer (69.9%), AstraZeneca (21.2%), and Moderna (8.9%)). In a cross-sectional and single-centre study design, we compared titres of neutralising antibodies between patients with (n = 51) and without (n = 62) medication with JAK inhibitors.
resultsTreatment with JAK inhibitors led to a significantly reduced humoral response to vaccination (P = 0.004). A maximum immune response was seen in 77.4% of control patients, whereas this percentage was reduced to 54.9% in study participants on medication with JAK inhibitors (effect size d = 0.270). Further subanalyses revealed that patients on combination treatment (JAK inhibitors and MTX, 9 of 51 subjects) demonstrated an even significantly impaired immune response as compared to patients on monotherapy with JAK inhibitors (P = 0.028; d = 0.267).
conclusionsJAK inhibitors significantly reduce the humoral response following dual vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. The combination with MTX causes an additional, significant reduction in neutralising IgG titres. Our data suggest cessation of JAK inhibitors in patients with RA in the context of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. Key Points • It was shown that DMARD therapy with JAK inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis leads to an attenuation of the humoral vaccination response against SARS-CoV-2. • The effect under medication with JAK inhibitors was significant compared to the control group and overall moderate. • The combination of JAK inhibitors with MTX led to an additive and significant attenuation of the humoral response.
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