Anti-glomerular Basement Membrane Disease Concomitant with MPO-ANCA Positivity Concurrent with High Serum Levels of Interleukin-26 Following Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination

Intern Med. 2023 Apr 1;62(7):1043-1048. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.1027-22. Epub 2023 Feb 1.

Abstract

As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine booster campaigns progress worldwide, new reports of complications following COVID-19 vaccination have emerged. We herein report a case of new-onset anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) disease concomitant with myeloperoxidase-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody positivity concurrent with high levels of interleukin (IL)-26 following the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The temporal association with vaccination in this case suggests that an enhanced neutrophilic immune response through IL-26 may have triggered necrotizing glomerulonephritis and a T-cell-mediated immune response to GBMs, leading to the development of anti-GBM antibodies, with an enhanced B-cell response after the vaccination triggering anti-GBM IgG and the onset of anti-GBM disease.

Keywords: ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis; IL-26; anti-GBM disease; mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine; pharmacovigilance.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Glomerular Basement Membrane Disease*
  • Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic
  • Autoantibodies
  • BNT162 Vaccine
  • COVID-19 Vaccines / adverse effects
  • COVID-19* / complications
  • Glomerulonephritis*
  • Humans
  • Interleukins
  • Peroxidase

Substances

  • Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic
  • Peroxidase
  • COVID-19 Vaccines
  • BNT162 Vaccine
  • Autoantibodies
  • Interleukins