The body’s ability to mount a virus-specific T-cell response is not necessarily linked with symptom severity a new study by Duke-NUS researchers and colleagues from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore found.
People who were infected with SARS-CoV-2, but showed no symptoms of infection, produced virus-specific T cells in a similar quantity to those who did experience symptoms, the researchers discovered.
But unlike in symptomatic individuals, the T-cell immune response in asymptomatic people was more efficient, releasing more signalling molecules, called cytokines, that are important for viral control, in particular interferon gamma and interleukin-2.
These findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, were the first to show, through direct comparison, that SARS-CoV-2-specific cellular immune responses were more efficient in asymptomatic than symptomatic individuals.
Professor Antonio Bertoletti from Duke-NUS’ Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme and the corresponding author of the study, observed: “It would be good news for patients to know that they are developing an efficient cellular immune response after a symptom-free infection. Our study opens the door for further large-scale T-cell testing, which could match the speed of antibody testing.”