Robust SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell immunity is maintained at 6 months following primary infection | bioRxiv preprints (not peer reviewed)

Type Journal Article Author J. Zuo Author A. Dowell Author H. Pearce Author K. Verma Author H. M. Long Author J. Begum Author F. Aiano Author Z. Amin-Chowdhury Author B. Hallis Author L. Stapley Author R. Borrow Author E. Linley Author S. Ahmad Author B. Parker Author A. Horsley Author G. Amirthalingam Author K. Brown Author M. E. Ramsay Author S. Ladhani Author P. Moss URL https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.01.362319v1 Rights © 2020, Posted by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. This pre-print is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NoDerivs 4.0 International), CC BY-ND 4.0, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ Pages 2020.11.01.362319 Date 02/11/2020 Extra Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Section: New Results Library Catalog www.biorxiv.org Language en Abstract The immune response to SARS-CoV-2 is critical in both controlling primary infection and preventing re-infection. However, there is concern that immune responses following natural infection may not be sustained and that this may predispose to recurrent infection. We analysed the magnitude and phenotype of the SARS-CoV-2 cellular immune response in 100 donors at six months following primary infection and related this to the profile of antibody level against spike, nucleoprotein and RBD over the previous six months. T-cell immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 were present by ELISPOT or ICS analysis in all donors and are characterised by predominant CD4+ T cell responses with strong IL-2 cytokine expression. Median T-cell responses were 50% higher in donors who had experienced an initial symptomatic infection indicating that the severity of primary infection establishes a set-point for cellular immunity that lasts for at least 6 months. The T-cell responses to both spike and nucleoprotein/membrane proteins were strongly correlated with the peak antibody level against each protein. The rate of decline in antibody level varied between individuals and higher levels of nucleoprotein-specific T cells were associated with preservation of NP-specific antibody level although no such correlation was observed in relation to spike-specific responses. In conclusion, our data are reassuring that functional SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses are retained at six months following infection although the magnitude of this response is related to the clinical features of primary infection.