Laboratorio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro Majadahonda, IDIPHISA, Madrid, Spain.
Hepatology and Liver Transplantation Unit, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Facultad de Medicina Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Barcelona, Spain.
J Microbiol Immunol Infect. 2023 Jun;56(3):526-536. doi: 10.1016/j.jmii.2023.03.003. Epub 2023 Mar 17.
Long-term immunity after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in immunosuppressed patients is not well characterized. We aimed to explore the long-term natural immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in liver transplant (LT) recipients compared to the non-transplanted population (control group).
Fifteen LT recipients and 15 controls matched according to variables associated with disease severity were included at 12 months following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) onset. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with peptide pools covering spike (S), nucleocapside (N), and membrane (M) proteins. Reactive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were identified using flow cytometry, and cytokine production was evaluated in the culture supernatants using cytometric bead array. Serum anti-N and anti-S IgG antibodies were detected with chemiluminescence.
The percentage of patients with a positive response in both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells against each viral protein and IL2, IL10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ levels was similar between LT recipients and controls. IFN-γ levels were positively correlated with the percentage of reactive CD4+ (p = 0.022) and CD8+ (p = 0.043) T cells to a mixture of M + N + S peptide pools. The prevalence and levels of anti-N and anti-S IgG antibodies were slightly lower in the LT recipients, but the difference was not statistically significant.
LT recipients exhibited a similar T cell response compared to non-transplanted individuals one year after COVID-19 diagnosis.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）感染后免疫抑制患者的长期免疫情况尚不清楚。我们旨在探索肝移植（LT）受者与未移植人群（对照组）相比对 SARS-CoV-2 的长期天然免疫。
在 COVID-19 发病后 12 个月，纳入了 15 名 LT 受者和 15 名根据与疾病严重程度相关的变量匹配的对照组。使用覆盖刺突（S）、核衣壳（N）和膜（M）蛋白的肽池刺激外周血单核细胞。使用流式细胞术鉴定反应性 CD4+和 CD8+T 细胞，并使用细胞因子检测珠阵列评估培养上清液中的细胞因子产生。使用化学发光法检测血清抗 N 和抗 S IgG 抗体。
LT 受者和对照组中，每种病毒蛋白的 CD4+和 CD8+T 细胞阳性反应百分比以及 IL2、IL10、TNF-α和 IFN-γ水平相似。IFN-γ水平与反应性 CD4+（p=0.022）和 CD8+（p=0.043）T 细胞对 M+N+S 肽池混合物的百分比呈正相关。LT 受者的抗 N 和抗 S IgG 抗体的流行率和水平略低，但差异无统计学意义。
在 COVID-19 诊断后一年，LT 受者与未移植个体相比表现出相似的 T 细胞反应。
