Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, Washington.
J Infect Dis. 2024 Oct 16;230(4):889-900. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae301.
The kinetics and durability of T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 in children are not well characterized. We studied a cohort of children aged 6 months to 20 years with COVID-19 in whom peripheral blood mononuclear cells and sera were archived at approximately 1, 6, and 12 months after symptom onset.
We compared antibody responses (n = 85) and T-cell responses (n = 30) to nucleocapsid (N) and spike (S) glycoprotein over time across 4 age strata: 6 months to 5 years and 5-9, 10-14, and 15-20 years.
N-specific antibody responses declined over time, becoming undetectable in 26 (81%) of 32 children by approximately 1 year postinfection. Functional breadth of anti-N CD4+ T-cell responses also declined over time and were positively correlated with N-antibody responses (Pearson r = .31, P = .008). CD4+ T-cell responses to S displayed greater functional breadth than N in unvaccinated children and, with neutralization titers, were stable over time and similar across age strata. Functional profiles of CD4+ T-cell responses against S were not significantly modulated by vaccination.
Our data reveal durable age-independent T-cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins in children over time following COVID-19 infection as well as S-antibody responses in comparison with declining antibody responses to N.
儿童对 SARS-CoV-2 的 T 细胞反应的动力学和持久性尚未得到很好的描述。我们研究了一组患有 COVID-19 的 6 个月至 20 岁的儿童,他们在症状出现后大约 1、6 和 12 个月时保存了外周血单核细胞和血清。
我们比较了 4 个年龄组(6 个月至 5 岁、5-9 岁、10-14 岁和 15-20 岁)中核衣壳(N)和刺突(S)糖蛋白的抗体反应(n=85)和 T 细胞反应(n=30)随时间的变化。
N 特异性抗体反应随时间下降,约 1 年后 32 名儿童中有 26 名(81%)的 N 抗体反应无法检测到。抗-N CD4+T 细胞反应的功能广度也随时间下降,与 N 抗体反应呈正相关(Pearson r=0.31,P=0.008)。未接种疫苗的儿童中,S 蛋白的 CD4+T 细胞反应显示出比 N 更大的功能广度,并且随着中和滴度的增加,其反应稳定且在不同年龄组之间相似。S 蛋白的 CD4+T 细胞反应的功能谱不受疫苗接种的显著调节。
我们的数据揭示了 COVID-19 感染后儿童随时间推移对 SARS-CoV-2 结构蛋白产生的持久的、与年龄无关的 T 细胞免疫以及与 N 抗体反应相比的 S 抗体反应。