Nebraska Center for Virology, Lincoln, NE, USA; School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Nebraska Center for Virology, Lincoln, NE, USA; School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA; Ocean Road Cancer Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Jan;102:577-583. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.10.104. Epub 2020 Nov 8.
Significant morbidity and mortality have occurred in the USA, Europe, and Asia due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), whereas the numbers of infections and deaths in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have remained comparatively low. It has been hypothesized that exposure of the population in SSA to other coronaviruses prior to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in some degree of cross-protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection and pathogenesis. We evaluated this hypothesis by comparing SARS-CoV-2 cross-reactive antibodies in pre-pandemic plasma samples collected from SSA and the USA.
Pre-COVID-19 pandemic plasma samples from SSA and the USA were collected and tested by immunofluorescence assay against the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of all known human coronaviruses (HCoVs).
The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 serological cross-reactivity was significantly higher in samples from SSA compared with the USA. Most of these cross-reactive samples cross-recognized the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein and the spike proteins of other HCoVs. Nucleocapsid proteins from HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-229E were detected in most samples, thereby implicating prior exposure to these two HCoVs as the likely source of cross-reactive antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
The low incidences of SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease in SSA appear to be correlated with the pre-pandemic serological cross-recognition of HCoVs, which are substantially more prevalent in SSA than the USA.
由于严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2），美国、欧洲和亚洲发生了重大发病率和死亡率，而撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）的感染和死亡人数仍然相对较低。有人假设，SSA 人群在 COVID-19 大流行之前接触到其他冠状病毒，导致对 SARS-CoV-2 感染和发病机制产生一定程度的交叉保护。我们通过比较 SSA 和美国大流行前血浆样本中 SARS-CoV-2 的交叉反应性抗体来评估这一假设。
收集 SSA 和美国大流行前的 COVID-19 血浆样本，并通过免疫荧光法检测所有已知人类冠状病毒（HCoVs）的刺突和核衣壳蛋白。
与美国相比，SSA 样本中 SARS-CoV-2 血清学交叉反应的发生率明显更高。这些交叉反应性样本大多交叉识别 SARS-CoV-2 的核衣壳蛋白和其他 HCoVs 的刺突蛋白。大多数样本中检测到 HCoV-NL63 和 HCoV-229E 的核衣壳蛋白，这表明先前接触这两种 HCoV 可能是 SARS-CoV-2 交叉反应抗体的来源。
SSA 中 SARS-CoV-2 感染和疾病的低发病率似乎与 HCoV 的大流行前血清学交叉识别相关，而 HCoV 在 SSA 比在美国更为普遍。
