Phillips, E 
ORCID: 0000-0002-5641-6369, Adele, S, Malone, T, Deeks, A, Stafford, L, Dobson, SL ORCID: 0000-0002-4958-0021, Amini, A, Skelly, D, Eyre, D, Jeffery, K et al (show 16 more authors)
(2022)
Comparison of two T-cell assays to evaluate T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 following vaccination in naïve and convalescent healthcare workers
Clinical and Experimental Immunology, 209 (1).
pp. 90-98.
ISSN 0009-9104, 1365-2249
Abstract
T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 following infection and vaccination are less characterized than antibody responses, due to a more complex experimental pathway. We measured T-cell responses in 108 healthcare workers (HCWs) using the commercialized Oxford Immunotec T-SPOT Discovery SARS-CoV-2 assay service (OI T-SPOT) and the PITCH ELISpot protocol established for academic research settings. Both assays detected T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 spike, membrane, and nucleocapsid proteins. Responses were significantly lower when reported by OI T-SPOT than by PITCH ELISpot. Four weeks after two doses of either Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162b or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 AZD1222 vaccine, the responder rate was 63% for OI T-SPOT Panels 1 + 2 (peptides representing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein excluding regions present in seasonal coronaviruses), 69% for OI T-SPOT Panel 14 (peptides representing the entire SARS-CoV-2 spike), and 94% for the PITCH ELISpot total spike. The two OI T-SPOT panels correlated strongly with each other showing that either readout quantifies spike-specific T-cell responses, although the correlation between the OI T-SPOT panels and the PITCH ELISpot total spike was moderate. The standardization, relative scalability, and longer interval between blood acquisition and processing are advantages of the commercial OI T-SPOT assay. However, the OI T-SPOT assay measures T-cell responses at a significantly lower magnitude compared to the PITCH ELISpot assay, detecting T-cell responses in a lower proportion of vaccinees. This has implications for the reporting of low-level T-cell responses that may be observed in patient populations and for the assessment of T-cell durability after vaccination.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | T cell, SARS-CoV-2, vaccination, infection, virus |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Health & Life Sciences Faculty of Health & Life Sciences > Inst. Infection, Vet & Ecological Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Oct 2022 10:33 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Jan 2026 14:08 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/cei/uxac042 |
| Open Access URL: | https://doi.org/10.1093/cei/uxac042 |
| Related Websites: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3165338 |
| Disclaimer: | The University of Liverpool is not responsible for content contained on other websites from links within repository metadata. Please contact us if you notice anything that appears incorrect or inappropriate. |
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