A new Portuguese study shows that antibodies are detectable up to seven months after contracting COVID-19.
SARS-CoV-2 rapidly spread worldwide and was declared a global pandemic earlier this year. To understand the continuing spread of the virus, researchers highlight that it is essential to detect those who are and were infected and follow the immune response long-term.
Marc Veldhoen, principal investigator at Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM; Portugal) led an interdisciplinary team of scientists from Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa (FMUL) and Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte (CHLN) and collaborators at Instituto Português do Sangue e Transplantação (IPST) to monitor the long-term immune response to coronavirus.
The study, published in the European Journal of Immunology, monitored 300 patients infected with the virus and 198 volunteers who had previously contracted COVID-19. Researchers set up an in-house sensitive, specific, and versatile COVID-19 serology test to monitor coronavirus antibody levels.
The study shows that 90% of subjects have detectable antibodies up to seven months after contracting COVID-19. It also found that age was not a factor in levels of antibodies produced, but disease severity is. In the acute phase of the immune response, higher antibody levels in subjects with more severe disease were observed.
The study showed that, on average, men produce more coronavirus antibodies than women. However, the antibody levels equilibrate during the resolution phase and are similar between men and women in the months after infection. Researchers discuss that “we and others found higher antibody titers in men compared with women. This is surprising since women, on average, have more B cells and produce more antibodies. Higher antibody titres in men, titers observed during the acute stage, correlates well with men showing more severe symptoms and increased fatality, as reported”.
The scientists believe the coming months will be critical to evaluate the immune response’s robustness to the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Interestingly the researchers state that “Since the SARS-CoV-2 response is in line with well-known and detailed studied immune responses resulting in lymphocyte memory, it is very likely that SARS-CoV-2 protective immunity, reducing disease severity, will last for at least a few years.”
The subject of long-lasting and protective immunity against COVID-19 is a significant focus of current research. Due to the details provided on the assays used in the study, further and longitudinal analysis of protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 can be facilitated with this information.
Written by Helen Massy, BSc
References:
Figueiredo‐Campos, P., Blankenhaus, B., Mota, C., Gomes, A., Serrano, M., Ariotti, S., Costa, C., Nunes‐Cabaço, H., Mendes, A., Gaspar, P., Pereira‐Santos, M., Rodrigues, F., Condeço, J., Escoval, M., Santos, M., Ramirez, M., Melo‐Cristino, J., Simas, J., Vasconcelos, E., Afonso, Â. and Veldhoen, M., 2020. Seroprevalence of anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies in COVID‐19 patients and healthy volunteers up to six months post disease onset. European Journal of Immunology,.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Related Post
Feb
10 Signs You May Need Mental Health Treatment
Emotional well-being is really significant for our general wellbeing and prosperity. Psychological well-being influences the manner in which we think, feel, act, and affects others in our lives also. Psychological well-being can be affected by the climate, hereditary qualities, and.
Read MoreFeb
10 Health Benefits of Eating Eggs for Breakfast
Might it be said that you are fed up with having exactly the same thing for breakfast consistently? Does your morning meal leave you feeling hungry simply a brief time frame after you eat? Then eating a couple of eggs.
Read MoreFeb
Study Reveals Extent of Undiagnosed Cancer Cases Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
North of 134,000 disease cases went undiscovered in the U.S. during the initial 10 months of the Coronavirus pandemic, as per another College of Kentucky Markey Disease Center review. The report distributed in JAMA Oncology gives the principal assessments of.
Read MoreFeb
Another COVID Toll: Over 134,000 Undiagnosed Cancers During Height of Pandemic
In excess of 134,000 diseases could have gone undiscovered during the initial 10 months of the Coronavirus pandemic, as per an investigation of public patterns in malignant growth rate. Yearly disease occurrence fell practically 30% shy of the normal rate from.
Read More