T cells recognize the SARS-CoV-2 variant
There is concern that a variant of SARS-CoV-2 will be identified in the second half of 2020 and will ignore the protective immunity acquired through previous infections, raising concerns about the possibility of reinfection and possibly reducing the effectiveness of vaccination.
To investigate this possibility, researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, analyzed blood samples from 30 people who had been infected with COVID-19 and recovered.
The researchers found that CD8+ T cells, which are key to the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, remained active against the virus.
The researchers
investigated whether CD8+ T cells in the blood of infected and recovering patients respond to the three SARS-CoV-2 variants.
B.1.351 was originally discovered in the Republic of South Africa, and B.1.1.248 was first discovered in Brazil.
Each variant has a mutation in the entire virus, especially in the region of the viral spike protein used to attach to and invade cells.
Mutations in this spike protein region can result in reduced responses to T cells and neutralizing antibodies produced by B cells of the immune system after infection, or vaccination.
Details regarding the exact level and composition of antibody and T-cell responses required to acquire immunity to SARS-CoV-2 are still unknown, but scientists assume that a strong and broad response from both antibodies and T cells is required to acquire an effective immune response.
CD8+ T cells limit infection by recognizing some of the viral proteins present on the surface of infected cells and killing those cells.
In a study of patients recovering from COVID-19 infection.
the researchers determined that the SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T-cell response remained largely intact and could recognize virtually all of the mutations studied.
Although larger studies are needed, the researchers suggest that the T-cell responses of recovering individuals, and possibly vaccinees, should be largely unaffected by the mutations found in these three variants and should produce an immune response to the new variants.
The researchers point out that optimal immunity against SARS-Cov-2 will likely require a strong "multivalent T-cell response" to protect against the current SARS-Cov-2 strain and the new mutants, in addition to neutralizing antibodies and other responses.
They advocate the importance of monitoring the breadth, magnitude, and durability of anti-SARS-CoV-2 T-cell responses in recovered and vaccinated individuals as part of the evaluation to determine if additional vaccinations are needed.
AD Redd etal. CD8+ T cell responses in individuals during COVID-19 recovery target conserved epitopes from multiple prominent SARS-CoV-2 circulating variants. Open Forum Infectious Diseases DOI: 10.1093 / ofid / ofab143 (2021).
Summary.
We don't know how you feel about the SARS-CoV-2 variant, but this study points out that one of the body's immune cells, the T-cell, is reacting to it.
From this, there was no total denial against vaccination, but also the need for the responsiveness of the individual immune function, and a vision for the immunity to be acquired in the future.Whether to vaccinate or not is up to the individual, but one's own immunity will fluctuate depending on one's own actions.
There is a lot of fake news about immune function, so you have to judge for yourself what is right, but you should know that it is not something that can be improved by spending a lot of money.
