Overall, the antibody titers in the HCW group remained relatively stable, while the kinetics in the group of patients with liver cirrhosis showed a rapid decrease depending on the time between vaccination and antibody detection. Open in a separate window Figure 1 SARS-CoV-2 IgG titer in relation to the time point between the second dose and antibody detection. in the control group (= 0.400). Still, the median SARS-CoV-2 IgG titer was significantly lower Tomatidine in patients with liver cirrhosis compared to the control group (939 vs. 1905 BAU/mL, = 0.0001). We also analyzed the strength of the antibody response in relation to the time between the second dose and antibody detection. Antibody titers remained relatively stable in the control group while showing a rapid and significant decrease in patients with liver cirrhosis. In conclusion, our data reveals a favorable initial outcome after vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 in cirrhotic patients but show a rapid deterioration of the antibody response after time, thereby giving a strong hint towards the importance of early booster immunization for this group of patients. = 0.001) (Table 1). The most frequent causes of liver cirrhosis were alcohol consumption (n = 35, 32%) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (n = 18, 16%), followed by autoimmune hepatitis (n = 10, 9%), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (n = 9, 8%), primary biliary cholangitis (n = 8, 7%), and hepatitis Tomatidine C virus infection (n = 6, 5%). Eight patients (7%) had cryptogenic liver cirrhosis (Table 2). The median model of end stage liver disease (MELD) score at the time of vaccination was 10 (IQR 8C13). Regarding the ChildCPugh classification, 76 patients (69%) were classified as Child A, 31 (28%) as Child B, and 3 (3%) as Child C (Table 1). Table IFNGR1 1 Patient characteristics are presented as absolute number, n, and percentage or as median and interquartile range. = 0.40) (Table 1). Of the cirrhotic patients without an antibody response, two were male and two were female. Two patients suffered from primary sclerosing cholangitis, one from primary biliary cholangitis, and one from alcohol-induced liver cirrhosis. Concerning ChildCPugh classification, one patient was classified as Child A, two patients as Child B, and one patient as Child C. The median antibody titer Tomatidine did differ significantly in cirrhotic patients and HCW (939 BAU/mL vs. 1905 BAU/mL, 0.001). However, stratifying cirrhotic patients according to MELD score ( 15; 15; = 0.15), ChildCPugh score (Child A; Child B; Child C; = 0.15), or age ( 60 years; 60 years; = 0.96) did not lead to any significant differences in median SARS-CoV-2 IgG (BAU/mL) levels (Table 3). A Spearman correlation analysis showed no relation/correlation between the MELD score and IgG titer (Spearman coefficient, = ?0.066; = 0.49). Table 3 Comparison of the antibody response in different groups of patients with liver cirrhosis. Patients grouped by age, MELD score, and class of ChildCPugh classification. = 0.21). For all other periods, we observed consistently lower antibody titers in cirrhotic patients compared to HCW (week 6C10: patients n = 37, median 1300 BAU/mL vs. HCW n = 22, median 2080 BAU/mL, 0.01; week 11C15: patients n = 23, median 570 BAU/mL vs. HCW n = 31, median 1680 BAU/mL, = 0.01; 16 weeks: patients n = 28, median 263 BAU/mL vs. HCW n = 7, median 2030 BAU/mL, = 0.01) (Figure 1). Overall, the antibody titers in the HCW group remained relatively stable, while the kinetics in the group of patients with liver cirrhosis showed a rapid decrease depending on the time between vaccination and antibody detection. Open in a separate window Figure 1 SARS-CoV-2 IgG titer in relation to the time point between the second dose and antibody detection. A comparison of the binding antibody units per milliliter (BAU/mL) ratio of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies of patients with liver cirrhosis and HCWs at different times after the second dose. Patients and HCWs were grouped based on the weeks between the second dose and antibody detection. The medians.