Study Reveals Why Some Don’t Get COVID Despite Infection
A UK-based study involved volunteers allowing scientists to deliberately infect them with SARS-CoV-2, aiming to understand why some individuals naturally avoid contracting COVID-19. This pioneering research could lead to improved vaccines and treatments.
Previous studies have examined COVID-19’s effects on patients, but none have tracked the disease from the initial entry of the virus to the development of illness. The newly published research by University College London (UCL) addresses this gap.
Study Design
The UK COVID-19 Human Challenge study deliberately infected 36 healthy young adults with the COVID-causing virus through their noses. Volunteers were screened for severe disease risks and comorbidities and given the lowest dose of SARS-CoV-2 capable of causing infection.
“Human challenge models are invaluable for understanding the body’s response to infectious diseases,” said Shobana Balasingam from Wellcome’s Infectious Disease team. Such studies allow close monitoring from the moment of infection, tracking the immune response and symptom development.
Researchers monitored the participants’ blood and nasal lining cells immediately after exposure. This detailed analysis resulted in a dataset of over 600,000 individual cells, contributing to the Human Cell Atlas, a comprehensive map of all human cells.
In all participants, specialized mucosal immune cells in the blood were activated, and inflammatory white blood cells decreased. Those who resisted infection or avoided full systemic infection displayed a unique immune response.
Genetic and Cellular Discoveries
Specifically, these resistant participants had high background activation of the HLA-DQA2 gene, which signals viral presence to other cells. “They also showed a quicker immune response in nasal cells and a slower response in blood cells compared to those who became infected.”
Researchers also identified recurring amino acid patterns in activated T cell receptors, known as motifs, which could recognize something in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This discovery could lead to the engineering of virus-specific T cells for treating COVID-19 and other diseases involving immune attack.
Marko Nikolić, senior author of the study, expressed “hope that the findings will lead to better ways to combat pathogens. Furthermore, understanding early immune responses could inform the development of treatments and vaccines that mimic natural protective responses. As a result, potentially preventing illness before symptoms arise.”
Read the Original Article on: New Atlas
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