SARS-CoV-2 infection induces long-lived bone marrow plasma cells in humans.
Long-lived bone marrow plasma cells (BMPCs) are a persistent and essential source of protective antibodies.1-7 People recovering from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have a much lower risk of reinfection.8-10 Nevertheless, anti-SARS-CoV-2 serum antibodies rapidly decay in the first few months after infection. Nevertheless, anti-SARS-CoV-2 serum antibodies have been reported to decay rapidly in the first few months after infection, raising concerns that long-lived BMPCs may not be generated and humoral immunity to this virus may be short-lived.11-13 Here, we present a study of individuals with mild infection (n = 77), we show that serum anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike(s) antibodies decline rapidly in the first 4 months after infection and then gradually decline over the next 7 months, remaining detectable at at least 11 months after infection. Anti-S antibody titers correlated with the frequency of S-specific BMPCs in bone marrow aspirates from 18 convalescent SARS-CoV-2 patients 7-8 months post-infection. S-specific BMPCs were not detected in aspirates from 11 healthy subjects with no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. S-bound BMPCs were quiescent state, indicating that they are part of a long-lived compartment. Consistently, circulating quiescent memory B cells directed against the S protein were detected in recovering individuals.
Turner, JS, Kim, W., Caraidina, E., et al. SARS-CoV-2 infection induces long-lived bone marrow plasma cells in humans. Nature (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03647-4
Key Points.
/The results are based on people with mild cases of the disease.
/The participants ranged in age from 30 to 69, so it is unclear whether the results are common to all ages.
/The cells found are similar to those found in other viruses such as influenza, so their presence is suspected in SARS-CoV-2.
However, although this study has revealed some of the immune response, the role of the variants and the complex immune system is still unknown.
