Compartmentalized immune responses and the local microbiota determine mucosal and systemic immunity against SARS-CoV-2

Stefan Vogt,Jochen Mattner,Jonas Buttenschön

doi:10.1038/s41423-021-00822-5

Stefan Vogt, Jochen Mattner

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-021-00822-5

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Abstract

Compartmentalized immune responses and the local microbiota determine mucosal and systemic immunity against SARS-CoV-2

Highlights

The clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which is the cause of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, are highly variable and range from asymptomatic carriage or mild symptoms to severe disease involving different organ systems
It is known that SARS-CoV-2 suppresses innate and antiviral immunity, causes peripheral lymphopenia, and promotes hyperinflammatory macrophage/monocyte activation [4], the distinct pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying severe COVID-19 have remained largely unknown
Plasma and nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected from patients and controls 8–12 days after the onset of disease, and systemic as well as mucosal SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific antibodies, cytokines, viral loads, and bacterial communities were evaluated

Summary

Introduction

The clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which is the cause of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, are highly variable and range from asymptomatic carriage or mild symptoms to severe disease involving different organ systems. Plasma and nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected from patients and controls 8–12 days after the onset of disease, and systemic as well as mucosal SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific antibodies, cytokines, viral loads, and bacterial communities were evaluated. The authors described, dependent on the severity of disease, an increasing frequency and intensity of spike-specific IgG and IgA antibodies in plasma and nasopharyngeal samples of patients, as reported in previous studies [5, 6].

Results

Conclusion