COVID-19 diverse outcomes: Aggravated reinfection, type I interferons and antibodies

Rafael Cardoso Maciel Costa Silva; Christianne Bandeira-Melo; Heitor Afonso Paula Neto; André Macedo Vale; Leonardo Holanda Travassos

doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2022.110943

COVID-19 diverse outcomes: Aggravated reinfection, type I interferons and antibodies

Med Hypotheses. 2022 Oct:167:110943. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2022.110943. Epub 2022 Sep 9.

Authors

Rafael Cardoso Maciel Costa Silva¹, Christianne Bandeira-Melo², Heitor Afonso Paula Neto³, André Macedo Vale⁴, Leonardo Holanda Travassos¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratório de Imunoreceptores e Sinalização, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
² Laboratório de Inflamação, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
³ Laboratório de Alvos Moleculares, Faculdade de Farmácia, Departamento de Biotecnologia Farmacêutica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁴ Laboratório de Biologia de Linfócitos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 infection intrigued medicine with diverse outcomes ranging from asymptomatic to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and death. After more than two years of pandemic, reports of reinfection concern researchers and physicists. Here, we will discuss potential mechanisms that can explain reinfections, including the aggravated ones. The major topics of this hypothesis paper are the disbalance between interferon and antibodies responses, HLA heterogeneity among the affected population, and increased proportion of cytotoxic CD4+ T cells polarization in relation to T follicular cells (Tfh) subtypes. These features affect antibody levels and hamper the humoral immunity necessary to prevent or minimize the viral burden in the case of reinfections.

Keywords: Antibodies; Reinfection; SARS-CoV-2; Type I interferons.