Low agreement and frequent invalid controls in two SARS-CoV-2 T-cell assays in people with compromised immune function
Abstract
T-cell response plays an important role in SARS-CoV-2 immunogenicity. For people living with HIV (PWH) and solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients there is limited evidence on the reliability of commercially available T-cell tests. We assessed 173 blood samples from 81 participants (62 samples from 35 PWH; 111 samples from 46 SOT recipients [lung and kidney]) with two commercial SARS-CoV-2 Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) release assays (IGRA; SARS-CoV-2 IGRA by Euroimmun, and IGRA SARS-CoV-2 by Roche). The reliability between the tests was judged as low (Cohen’s kappa [κ] = 0.20; overall percent agreement [OPA] = 66%). A high proportion of tests were invalid (22% Euroimmun; 8% Roche). When excluding these invalid tests, the agreement was higher (κ = 0.43; OPA = 90%). The low reliability between the two T-cell tests indicates that results should be interpreted with caution in SOT recipients and PWH and that SARS-CoV-2 T-cell tests need to be optimized and further validated for use in vulnerable patient populations.
Article Details
Authors (25)
Annette Audigé
Alain Amstutz
Macé M. Schuurmans
Patrizia Amico
Dominique L. Braun
Marcel P. Stoeckle
Barbara Hasse
René Hage
Dominik Damm
Michael Tamm
Nicolas J. Mueller
Huldrych F. Günthard
Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich
Michael T. Koller
Christof M. Schönenberger
Alexandra Griessbach
Niklaus D. Labhardt
Roger D. Kouyos
Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich
Alexandra Trkola
Michael Huber
Katharina Kusejko
Heiner C. Bucher
Irene A. Abela
Matthias Briel
Frédérique Chammartin
Benjamin Speich