Graves' Disease after mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination, with the Presence of Autoimmune Antibodies Even One Year Later

Fuminori Nakamura; Toru Awaya; Masahiro Ohira; Yoshinari Enomoto; Masao Moroi; Masato Nakamura

doi:10.3390/vaccines11050934

Graves' Disease after mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination, with the Presence of Autoimmune Antibodies Even One Year Later

Vaccines (Basel). 2023 May 3;11(5):934. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11050934.

Authors

Fuminori Nakamura¹, Toru Awaya¹, Masahiro Ohira², Yoshinari Enomoto¹, Masao Moroi¹, Masato Nakamura¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Toho University Ohashi Medical Center, 2-22-36 Ohashi, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8515, Japan.
² Department of Diabetes, Metabolism and Endocrinology, Toho University Ohashi Medical Center, Tokyo 153-8515, Japan.

Abstract

A 45-year-old man who had received his second mRNA COVID-19 vaccination one week earlier was presented to the emergency department with chest discomfort. Therefore, we suspected post-vaccination myocarditis; however, the patient showed no signs of myocarditis. After 2 weeks, he revisited the hospital complaining of palpitations, hand tremors, and weight loss. The patient exhibited high free thyroxine (FT4) (6.42 ng/dL), low thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) (<0.01 μIU/mL), and high TSH receptor antibody (17.5 IU/L) levels, and was diagnosed with Graves' disease. Thiamazole was administered, and the patient's FT4 levels normalized after 30 days. One year later, the patient's FT4 is stable; however, their TSH receptor antibodies have not become negative and thiamazole has continued. This is the first case report to follow the course of Graves' disease one year after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.

Keywords: ASIA; Graves’ disease; cross-reactivity; mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.

Publication types

Case Reports

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.