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Misra P, Garg PK, Awasthi A, Kant S, Rai SK, Ahmad M, Guleria R, Deori TJ, Mandal S, Jaiswal A, Gongal G, Vishwakarma S, Bairwa M, Kumar R, Haldar P, Binayke A. Cell-Mediated Immunity (CMI) for SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among the General Population of North India: A Cross-Sectional Analysis From a Sub-sample of a Large Sero-Epidemiological Study. Cureus 2023; 15:e48824. [PMID: 38106811 PMCID: PMC10722242 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.48824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Cell-mediated immunity (CMI), or specifically T-cell-mediated immunity, is proven to remain largely preserved against the variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), including Omicron. The persistence of cell-mediated immune response in individuals longitudinally followed up for an extended period remains largely unelucidated. To address this, the current study was planned to study whether the effect of cell-mediated immunity persists after an extended period of convalescence or vaccination. Methods Whole blood specimens of 150 selected participants were collected and tested for Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) response. Ex vivo SARS-CoV-2-specific interferon-gamma Enzyme-linked Immunospot (IFN-γ ELISpot) assay was carried out to determine the levels of virus-specific IFN-γ producing cells in individual samples. Findings Out of all the samples tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 T-cell-mediated IFN-γ response, 78.4% of samples were positive. The median (interquartile range) spots forming units (SFU) per million levels of SARS-CoV-2-specific IFN-γ producing cells of the vaccinated and diagnosed participants was 336 (138-474) while those who were vaccinated but did not have the disease diagnosis was 18 (0-102); the difference between the groups was statistically significant. Since almost all the participants were vaccinated, a similar pattern of significance was observed when the diagnosed and the never-diagnosed participants were compared, irrespective of their vaccination status. Interpretations Cell-mediated immunity against SARS-CoV-2 persisted, irrespective of age and sex of the participant, for more than six months of previous exposure. Participants who had a history of diagnosed COVID-19 infection had better T-cell response compared to those who had never been diagnosed, in spite of being vaccinated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Puneet Misra
- Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Pramod K Garg
- Gastroenterology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Amit Awasthi
- Allergy and Immunology, Centre for Immunobiology and Immunotherapy, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, IND
| | - Shashi Kant
- Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Sanjay K Rai
- Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Mohammad Ahmad
- Epidemiology and Public Health, World Health Organization, New Delhi, IND
| | - Randeep Guleria
- Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Trideep J Deori
- Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Suprakash Mandal
- Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Abhishek Jaiswal
- Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Gaurav Gongal
- Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Siddhesh Vishwakarma
- Allergy and Immunology, Immunology Core Laboratory, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, IND
| | - Mohan Bairwa
- Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Rakesh Kumar
- Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Partha Haldar
- Preventive Medicine, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, New Delhi, IND
| | - Akshay Binayke
- Allergy and Immunology, Centre for Immunobiology and Immunotherapy, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, IND
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