Persistence of T cell and antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 up to 9 months after symptom onset

JC Law, M Girard, GYC Chao, LA Ward… - The Journal of …, 2022 - journals.aai.org
JC Law, M Girard, GYC Chao, LA Ward, B Isho, B Rathod, K Colwill, Z Li, JM Rini, FY Yue…
The Journal of Immunology, 2022journals.aai.org
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) induces T cell, B cell, and
Ab responses that are detected for several months in recovered individuals. Whether this
response resembles a typical respiratory viral infection is a matter of debate. In this study, we
followed T cell and Ab responses in 24 mainly nonhospitalized human subjects who had
recovered from PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection at two time points (median of 45 and
145 d after symptom onset). Ab responses were detected in 95% of subjects, with a strong …
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) induces T cell, B cell, and Ab responses that are detected for several months in recovered individuals. Whether this response resembles a typical respiratory viral infection is a matter of debate. In this study, we followed T cell and Ab responses in 24 mainly nonhospitalized human subjects who had recovered from PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection at two time points (median of 45 and 145 d after symptom onset). Ab responses were detected in 95% of subjects, with a strong correlation between plasma and salivary anti-spike (anti-S) and anti—receptor binding domain IgG, as well as a correlation between circulating T follicular helper cells and the SARS-CoV-2–specific IgG response. T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 peptides were determined using intracellular cytokine staining, activation markers, proliferation, and cytokine secretion. All study subjects had a T cell response to at least one SARS-CoV-2 Ag based on at least one T cell assay. CD4+ responses were largely of the Th1 phenotype, but with a lower ratio of IFN-γ–to IL-2–producing cells and a lower frequency of CD8+: CD4+ T cells than in influenza A virus (IAV)-specific memory responses within the same subjects. Analysis of secreted molecules also revealed a lower ratio of IFN-γ to IL-2 and an altered cytotoxic profile for SARS-CoV-2 S-and nucleocapsid-specific responses compared with IAV-specific responses. These data suggest that the memory T cell phenotype after a single infection with SARS-CoV-2 persists over time, with an altered cytokine and cytotoxicity profile compared with long-term memory to whole IAV within the same subjects.
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