The dichotomous and incomplete adaptive immunity in COVID-19 patients with different disease severity.
Signal Transduct Target Ther
; 6(1): 113, 2021 03 08.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1123128
ABSTRACT
The adaptive immunity that protects patients from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is not well characterized. In particular, the asymptomatic patients have been found to induce weak and transient SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown; meanwhile, the protective immunity that guide the recovery of these asymptomatic patients is elusive. Here, we characterized SARS-CoV-2-specific B-cell and T-cell responses in 10 asymptomatic patients and 64 patients with other disease severity (mild, n = 10, moderate, n = 32, severe, n = 12) and found that asymptomatic or mild symptomatic patients failed to mount virus-specific germinal center (GC) B cell responses that result in robust and prolonged humoral immunity, assessed by GC response indicators including follicular helper T (TFH) cell and memory B cell responses as well as serum CXCL13 levels. Alternatively, these patients mounted potent virus-specific TH1 and CD8+ T cell responses. In sharp contrast, patients of moderate or severe disease induced vigorous virus-specific GC B cell responses and associated TFH responses; however, the virus-specific TH1 and CD8+ T cells were minimally induced in these patients. These results, therefore, uncovered the protective immunity in asymptomatic patients and also revealed the strikingly dichotomous and incomplete humoral and cellular immune responses in COVID-19 patients with different disease severity, providing important insights into rational design of effective COVID-19 vaccines.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
B-Lymphocytes
/
Th1 Cells
/
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes
/
Adaptive Immunity
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
Signal Transduct Target Ther
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S41392-021-00525-3
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS