People who suffered from myocarditis after receiving an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine were found to have persistently higher levels of circulating spike protein compared to those who also received an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine but did not develop myocarditis, according to findings from a new study. The study, published Jan. 4 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, sought to understand better the immune profiles—also referred to as immunoprofiles—of people who suffered from myocarditis after receiving an mRNA-based vaccine.
From January 2021 through February 2022, researchers prospectively obtained blood samples from 61 adolescents and young adults, all of whom had been vaccinated with either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. Of the group, 16 had been hospitalized with myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination, and had presented to Massachusetts General for Children or Boston Children’s Hospital with chest pain.
The other 45 people were used as “healthy, asymptomatic, age-matched” control subjects in the study; they did not have symptoms of myocarditis after having been vaccinated. The researchers did not include any unvaccinated people as control subjects in the study. “We performed extensive antibody profiling, including tests for SARS-CoV-2–specific humoral responses and assessment for autoantibodies or antibodies against the human-relevant virome, SARS-CoV-2–specific T-cell analysis, and cytokine and SARS-CoV-2 antigen profiling,” the authors stated.