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Oligosymptomatic long-term carriers of SARS-CoV-2 display impaired innate resistance but increased high-affinity anti-spike antibodies

2023; Cell Press; Volume: 26; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.isci.2023.107219

2589-0042

Elena Montes-Cobos, Victoria Cortes Bastos, Clarice Monteiro, João C.R. de Freitas, Heiny D.P. Fernandes, Clarice S. Constancio, Danielle A. S. Rodrigues, Andreza M.D.S. Gama, Vinícius Mendes Vidal, Letícia S. Alves, Laura Zalcberg-Renault, Guilherme S. Lira, Victor Akira Ota, Carolina Calôba, Luciana Conde, Isabela C. Leitão, Amílcar Tanuri, Orlando D.C. Ferreira, Renata M. Pereira, André M. Vale, Terezinha Marta Pereira Pinto Castiñeiras, Dominique Kaiserlian, Juliana Echevarria‐Lima, Marcelo T. Bozza,

Long-Term Effects of COVID-19

The vast spectrum of clinical features of COVID-19 keeps challenging scientists and clinicians. Low resistance to infection might result in long-term viral persistence, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we studied the immune response of immunocompetent COVID-19 patients with prolonged SARS-CoV-2 infection by immunophenotyping, cytokine and serological analysis. Despite viral loads and symptoms comparable to regular mildly symptomatic patients, long-term carriers displayed weaker systemic IFN-I responses and fewer circulating pDCs and NK cells at disease onset. Type 1 cytokines remained low, while type-3 cytokines were in turn enhanced. Of interest, we observed no defects in antigen-specific cytotoxic T cell responses, and circulating antibodies displayed higher affinity against different variants of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein in these patients. The identification of distinct immune responses in long-term carriers adds up to our understanding of essential host protective mechanisms to ensure tissue damage control despite prolonged viral infection.