Can the immune system in our body "remember" after resisting the attack of the new coronavirus? If so, is there a chance of life-long immunity after being infected with the new crown? If not, then how long should I boost my immunity afterwards
The immune memory problem of the human body after the new coronavirus infection has always been the focus of response to the epidemic
academician "We conducted a half-year and one-year return visit to 101 patients who had recovered from new coronary pneumonia, and detected immune antibodies through multiple tests of serum samples, including neutralization of live viruses, and virus-specific tests of immune memory T cells.
"Pursuing" Immune Memory
"Pursuing" Immune Memory How can immune memory be pursued?
If you want to know if a person has memory, just ask: Do you remember?
"If you want to know whether the immune system has memory after being infected with the new crown, you have to find out whether there are related T cells and B cells
Therefore, if research work is to "fish" immune memory-related cells, it must first create special "memory fragments" that can match the new coronavirus-related memory cells as "bait"
This "memory fragment" is the "small fragment" polypeptide of the new coronavirus protein.
Therefore, the design of "bait" is very important, it must have specificity and sensitivity
In response to the S protein, M protein, and N protein on the new coronavirus particles, the team designed specific peptide pools for S1, S2, M, and N proteins to "hunt" immune memory cells
In order to improve specificity, the research team also specially synthesized a tetramer complex for the new crown-specific peptides to conduct a "stereo" search for immune memory T cells
In 1 year, there was no sign of "fading" in immune memory
In 1 year, there was no sign of "fading" in immune memory After conducting a comprehensive and three-dimensional memory cell search on the blood cells of 101 survivors, the research team found that 93% of the survivors had neo-coronavirus-specific T cell immune memory 6 months after the onset of the disease.
"We found that compared with 6 months after the onset, the percentage of virus-specific memory T cells in recovered patients did not decrease significantly
There are different types of immune memory cells.
"This means that the T cell immune memory specific to the virus still exists and can be used to resist re-infection
What's more interesting is that the level of T cell immune response is positively correlated with the severity of the disease
At the same time, the level of T cell memory against the S protein is positively correlated with the level of new coronavirus-specific antibodies, that is, the higher the antibody level, the more significant the T cell immune memory
After 1 year, specific antibodies persisted
After 1 year, specific antibodies persisted The researchers also tested specific antibodies and conducted regular analysis
.
Studies have shown that in more than 95% of recovered patients, specific IgG antibodies and neutralizing antibodies can persist from 6 months to 12 months after the onset of the disease, and their titer is positively correlated with the severity of the acute phase
.
At 6 months and 12 months after the onset, the neutralizing antibodies showed no obvious signs of regression
.
"Specific T cell immune memory and antibodies can last for at least one year, which has a very positive effect on individuals avoiding re-infection with the new coronavirus
.
" Liu Jun said that the research on immune memory characteristics and the improvement of related mechanisms will also help The formulation of vaccine strategies provides a theoretical basis
.
Focus on the new crown pneumonia epidemic
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