We collected blood from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) convalescent individuals and investigated SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral and cellular immunity in these discharged patients. Follow-up analysis in a cohort of 171 patients at 4–11 months after the onset revealed high levels of IgG antibodies. A total of 78.1% (164/210) of the specimens tested positive for neutralizing antibody (NAb). SARS-CoV-2 antigen peptide pools-stimulated-IL-2 and -IFN-γ response can distinguish COVID-19 convalescent individuals from healthy donors. Interestingly, NAb survival was significantly affected by the antigen peptide pools-stimulated-IL-2 response, -IL-8 response, and -IFN-γ response. The antigen peptide pools-activated CD8+ T cell counts were correlated with NAb. The antigen peptide pools-activated natural killer (NK) cell counts in convalescent individuals were correlated with NAb and disease severity. Our data suggested that the development of NAb is associated with the activation of T cells and NK cells. Our work provides a basis for further analysis of the protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and for understanding the pathogenesis of COVID-19. It also has implications for the development of an effective vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 infection.
【저자키워드】 Infectious diseases, Immunological disorders, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus disease, neutralizing antibody, SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus disease 2019, Vaccine, Pathogenesis, T cells, SARS-COV-2 infection, disease severity, peptide, NK cells, discharged patients, Antigen, Cohort, T cell, survival, IgG antibodies, cellular immunity, protective immunity, Patient, SARS-CoV-2 antigen, CD8+ T cell, Blood, Analysis, humoral, natural killer, Activation, healthy donors, specimen, cell counts, pathogenesis of COVID-19, positive, convalescent individuals, cell count, Follow-up analysis, implication, effective, convalescent individual, tested, affected, collected, significantly, investigated, provide, suggested, correlated, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19, immune response, convalescent individual,