Persistent humoral and CD4+ TH cell immunity after mild SARS-COV-2 infection-The CoNAN long-term study

Clara Schnizer; Nico Andreas; Wolfgang Vivas; Thomas Kamradt; Michael Baier; Michael Kiehntopf; Stefan Glöckner; André Scherag; Bettina Löffler; Steffi Kolanos; Joel Guerra; Mathias W Pletz; Sebastian Weis

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2022.1095129

Persistent humoral and CD4⁺ T_H cell immunity after mild SARS-COV-2 infection-The CoNAN long-term study

Front Immunol. 2023 Jan 13:13:1095129. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1095129. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Clara Schnizer¹, Nico Andreas², Wolfgang Vivas^{1

3

4}, Thomas Kamradt², Michael Baier⁵, Michael Kiehntopf⁶, Stefan Glöckner⁵, André Scherag⁷, Bettina Löffler⁵, Steffi Kolanos¹, Joel Guerra^{1

4}, Mathias W Pletz^{1

8}, Sebastian Weis^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Infectious Diseases and Infection Control, Jena University Hospital- Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
² Institute of Immunology, Jena University Hospital - Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
³ Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute (HKI), Jena, Germany.
⁴ Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Jena University Hospital- Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
⁵ Institute of Medical Microbiology, Jena University Hospital- Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
⁶ Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics and Integrated Biobank Jena (IBBJ), Jena University Hospital- Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
⁷ Institute of Medical Statistics, Computer and Data Sciences, Jena University Hospital- Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
⁸ Center for Sepsis Control and Care, Jena University Hospital- Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.

Abstract

Understanding persistent cellular and humoral immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 will be of major importance to terminate the ongoing pandemic. Here, we assessed long-term immunity in individuals with mild COVID-19 up to 1 year after a localized SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. CoNAN was a longitudinal population-based cohort study performed 1.5 months, 6 months, and 12 months after a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in a rural German community. We performed a time series of five different IgG immunoassays assessing SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses on serum samples from individuals that had been tested positive after a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and in control individuals who had a negative PCR result. These analyses were complemented with the determination of spike-antigen specific TH cell responses in the same individuals. All infected participants were presented as asymptomatic or mild cases. Participants initially tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection either with PCR, antibody testing, or both had a rapid initial decline in the serum antibody levels in all serological tests but showed a persisting T_H cell immunity as assessed by the detection of SARS-CoV-2 specificity of T_H cells for up to 1 year after infection. Our data support the notion of a persistent T-cell immunity in mild and asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 up to 1 year after infection. We show that antibody titers decline over 1 year, but considering several test results, complete seroreversion is rare.

Trial registration: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00022416.

Keywords: SARS – CoV – 2; T cell response; antibody response; immunity; quarantine.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes
COVID-19*
Cohort Studies
Humans
Immunity, Cellular
SARS-CoV-2

Associated data

DRKS/DRKS00022416

Grants and funding

Funding: CoNAN was funded by the Sondervermögen “Corona” of the Thuringian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society (TMWWDG), SV-Kapitel 82 30 Titel 68205 # 5526/32-4-2. Role of the Sponsor: The funding agency had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analyses, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.