Neutralizing Antibodies and Cellular Immune Responses Against SARS-CoV-2 Sustained One and a Half Years After Natural Infection

Autor: Li-na Yan, Pan-pan Liu, Xu-gui Li, Shi-jing Zhou, Hao Li, Zhi-yin Wang, Feng Shen, Bi-chao Lu, Yu Long, Xiao Xiao, Zhen-dong Wang, Dan Li, Hui-ju Han, Hao Yu, Shu-han Zhou, Wen-liang Lv, Xue-jie Yu
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 12 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1664-302X
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.803031
Popis: BackgroundCOVID-19 has caused more than 2.6 billion infections and several million deaths since its outbreak 2 years ago. We know very little about the long-term cellular immune responses and the kinetics of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) to SARS-CoV-2 because it has emerged only recently in the human population.MethodsWe collected blood samples from individuals who were from the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan between December 30, 2019, and February 24, 2020. We analyzed NAbs to SARS-CoV-2 using pseudoviruses and IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) protein using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in patients’ sera and determined SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses of patients with ELISpot assays.ResultsWe found that 91.9% (57/62) and 88.9% (40/45) of COVID-19 patients had NAbs against SARS-CoV-2 in a year (10–11 months) and one and a half years (17–18 months), respectively, after the onset of illness, indicating that NAbs against SARS-CoV-2 waned slowly and possibly persisted over a long period time. Over 80% of patients had IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 S and N protein one and a half years after illness onset. Most patients also had robust memory T-cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 one and a half years after the illness. Among the patients, 95.6% (43/45) had an IFN-γ-secreting T-cell response and 93.8% (15/16) had an IL-2-secreting T-cell response. The T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 were positively correlated with antibodies (including neutralizing antibodies and IgG antibodies to S and N protein) in COVID-19 patients. Eighty percent (4/5) of neutralizing antibody-negative patients also had SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell response. After long-term infection, protective immunity was independent of disease severity, sex, and age.ConclusionsWe concluded that SARS-CoV-2 infection elicited a robust and persistent neutralizing antibody and memory T-cell response in COVID-19 patients, indicating that these sustained immune responses, among most SARS-CoV-2-infected people, may play a crucial role in protection against reinfection.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals