ABSTRACT. Data on the longevity of humoral and cell-mediated immune responses against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are limited. We evaluated the detailed kinetics of antibody and T-cell responses at the acute, convalescent, and post-convalescent phases in COVID-19 patients with a wide range of severity. We enrolled patients with COVID-19 prospectively from four hospitals and one community treatment center between February 2020 and January 2021. symptom severity was classified as mild, moderate, or severe/critical. Patient blood samples were collected at 1 week (acute), 1 month (convalescent), and 2 months after symptom onset (post-convalescent). Human SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM antibodies were measured using in-house-developed ELISA. The SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses against overlapping peptides of spike proteins and nucleoprotein were measured by interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunospot assays. Twenty-five COVID-19 patients were analyzed (mild, n = 5; moderate, n = 9; severe/critical, n = 11). IgM and IgG antibody responses peaked at 1 month after symptom onset and decreased at 2 months. IgG response levels were significantly greater in the severe/critical group compared with other groups. Interferon-γ-producing T-cell responses increased between 1 week and 1 month after symptom onset, and had a trend toward decreasing at 2 months, but did not show significant differences according to severity. Our data indicate that SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody responses were greater in those with severe symptoms and waned after reaching a peak around 1 month after symptom onset. However, SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses were not significantly different according to symptom severity, and decreased slowly during the post-convalescent phase.
【초록키워드】 COVID-19, Treatment, coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus disease 2019, coronavirus, antibody, severity, hospital, Antibody Response, T-cell Response, Human, interferon, peptide, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, ELISA, Spike protein, IgG antibody, IgM antibodies, immune responses, Patient, peptides, Community, Mild, nucleoprotein, convalescent, Longevity, moderate, SARS-CoV-2 IgG, Spike proteins, COVID-19 patient, humoral, IgM and IgG, IgG response, symptom onset, overlapping, interferon-γ, acute respiratory syndrome, significant difference, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, significant differences, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, enzyme, enzyme-linked immunospot, IgM antibody, blood sample, severe symptoms, symptom severity, cell-mediated immune response, SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses, greater, enrolled, analyzed, collected, significantly, assays, peaked, evaluated, groups, were measured, severe symptom, not significantly different, patients with COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell response, waned, 【제목키워드】 Kinetics, response,