Maintenance of broad neutralizing antibodies and memory B cells 1 year post-infection is predicted by SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell responses

Abstract

Understanding the long-term maintenance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) immunity is critical for predicting protection against reinfection. In an age- and gender-matched cohort of 24 participants, the association of disease severity and early immune responses on the maintenance of humoral immunity 12 months post-infection is examined. All severely affected participants maintain a stable subset of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)-specific memory B cells (MBCs) and good neutralizing antibody breadth against the majority of the variants of concern, including the Delta variant. Modeling these immune responses against vaccine efficacy data indicate a 45%-76% protection against symptomatic infection (variant dependent). Overall, these findings indicate durable humoral responses in most participants after infection, reasonable protection against reinfection, and implicate baseline antigen-specific CD4+ T cell responses as a predictor of maintenance of antibody neutralization breadth and RBD-specific MBC levels at 12 months post-infection.

Keywords: 12 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection; Delta variant; RBD-specific memory B cells longevity; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 OX40 CD4 T cell assay; SARS-CoV-2 antibody duration; SARS-CoV-2 neutralization; protection efficacy prediction; variants of concern.