Thuja Occidentalis: an Unexplored Phytomedicine with Therapeutic Applications.

BACKGROUND: The current outbreak of respiratory disease due to SARS-CoV-2 has received global attention, and recent studies show various limitations, including treatment. Phytomedicine has played a prominent role in the treatment and prevention of various epidemic and pandemic diseases. OBJECTIVE: Here, we attempt to focus on a safe and feasible approach for Thuja occidentalis to manage and alleviate the panic of respiratory viral infection infections including COVID-19 by strengthening an individual's immunity. The relevant information was collected from the web-based databases Pubmed, Google Scholar, and MEDLINE as well as internet sources. CONCLUSION: As an important phytomedicine and king of antipsychotics, T. occidentalis possesses a plethora of immunological properties that not only can be used effectively in the management of respiratory viral infection infections, but also have the potential to prevent the further progression of the disease. Importantly, this is only part of the approach to treatment for the current outbreak that should be considered along with other measures.

An efficient immunoassay for the B cell help function of SARS-CoV-2-specific memory CD4+ T cells.

The B cell "help" function of CD4+ T cells is an important mechanism of adaptive immunity. Here, we describe improved antigen-specific T-B cocultures for quantitative measurement of T cell-dependent B cell responses, with as few as ∼90 T cells. Utilizing M. tuberculosis (Mtb), we show that early priming and activation of CD4+ T cells is important for productive interaction between T and B cells and that similar effects are achieved by supplementing cocultures with monocytes. We find that monocytes promote survivability of B cells via BAFF and stem cell growth factor (SCGF)/C-type lectin domain family 11 member A (CLEC11A), but this alone does not fully recapitulate the effects of monocyte supplementation. Importantly, we demonstrate improved activation and immunological output of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific memory CD4+ T-B cell cocultures with the inclusion of monocytes. This method may therefore provide a more sensitive assay to evaluate the B cell help quality of memory CD4+ T cells, for example, after vaccination or natural infection.

Inactivated whole-virion vaccine BBV152/Covaxin elicits robust cellular immune memory to SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern.

BBV152 is a whole-virion inactivated vaccine based on the Asp614Gly variant. BBV152 is the first alum-imidazoquinolin-adjuvanted vaccine authorized for use in large populations. Here we characterized the magnitude, quality and persistence of cellular and humoral memory responses up to 6 months post vaccination. We report that the magnitude of vaccine-induced spike and nucleoprotein antibodies was comparable with that produced after infection. Receptor binding domain-specific antibodies declined against variants in the order of Alpha (B.1.1.7; 3-fold), Delta (B.1.617.2; 7-fold) and Beta (B.1.351; 10-fold). However, pseudovirus neutralizing antibodies declined up to 2-fold against the Delta followed by the Beta variant (1.7-fold). Vaccine-induced memory B cells were also affected by the Delta and Beta variants. The SARS-CoV-2-specific multicytokine-expressing CD4+ T cells were found in ~85% of vaccinated individuals. Only a ~1.3-fold reduction in efficacy was observed in CD4+ T cells against the Beta variant. We found that antigen-specific CD4+ T cells were present in the central memory compartment and persisted for at least up to 6 months post vaccination. Vaccine-induced CD8+ T cells were detected in ~50% of individuals. Importantly, the vaccine was capable of inducing follicular T helper cells that exhibited B-cell help potential. These findings show that inactivated vaccine BBV152 induces robust immune memory to SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern that persists for at least 6 months after vaccination.

An efficient immunoassay for the B-cell help function of SARS-CoV-2 specific memory CD4+ T cells

The B cell “help” function of CD4+ T cells is an important mechanism of adaptive immunity. Here, we describe improved antigen-specific T-B co-cultures for quantitative measurement of T cell-dependent B cell responses, with as few as ∼90 T cells. Utilizing Mtb, we show that early priming and activation of CD4+ T cells is important for productive interaction between T and B cells, and that similar effects are achieved by supplementing co-cultures with monocytes. We find that monocytes promote survivability of B cells via BAFF and SCGF/CLEC11A, but this alone does not fully recapitulate the effects of monocyte-supplementation. Importantly, we demonstrate improved activation and immunological output of SARS-CoV-2 specific memory CD4+ T - B cell co-cultures with the inclusion of monocytes. This method may therefore provide a more sensitive assay to evaluate the B cell help quality of memory CD4+ T cells, for example after vaccination or natural infection. Graphical Ansari et al. describe an efficient T-B cell co-culture assay to assess B-cell help function of antigen-specific T helper cells in healthy and COVID-19 recovered individuals, based on the inclusion of monocytes. Increased B cell output in this assay may provide extra sensitivity to evaluate immunological responses in different contexts.