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Influenza Virus Vaccination Clinically Safe For Patients With Systemic Lupus

Clinical Rheumatology

11/01/2002
By Andrew A. Skolnick
 

The influenza virus vaccination is clinically safe for patients with systemic lupus, even though it may trigger the generation of autoantibodies in some patients.

Mahmoud Abu-Shakra, MD, at the Soroka Medical Center, in Beer-Sheva, Israel, and colleagues investigated the effects of the influenza vaccine on 24 women with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Blood samples from each woman were withdrawn at the time of vaccination and at six and 12 weeks after vaccination. The sera were then tested by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) for anti-DNA, anticardiolipin, anti-Sm, anti-Sm/RNP, anti-Ro and anti-La antibodies.

The vaccine was not associated with the generation of anti-DNA, the investigators reported. At time of the vaccination a single patient had anti-Sm, four patients had anti-Sm/RNP antibodies, none of the patients had anti-La antibody and six had anti-Ro antibodies.

Six weeks after vaccination, four patients had antibodies reacting with Sm, eight had antibodies reacting with Sm/RNP, nine had antibodies to Ro, and three had autoantibodies to La.

Twelve weeks after vaccination none of the patients had anti-Sm, three had anti-Sm/RNP, five had anti-Ro and two had anti-La antibodies. Following vaccination, six patients developed IgG and three developed IgM anticardiolipin antibodies.

"In summary, although the influenza virus vaccine is clinically safe for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, it may trigger the generation of autoantibodies," the researchers concluded. "This effect is usually short term and has no clinical significance."
Clin Rheumatol 2002 Sep;21(5):369-72.
 

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