New Research Reveals Immune System’s Response to Omicron Variants, Providing Insights into the Evolution of COVID-19

Research reveals adaptive immune system against Omicron variants, providing new insights into the body’s response to the evolution of the virus (Getty Images)

Since COVID emerged on the planet and the pandemic began, it is increasingly common to talk about the immune system and its role as the body’s defense. Furthermore, its learning behavior in the face of pathogens and how it remains alert to the possible presence of other germs generates amazement in a large part of the population. Now, research carried out by South Korean scientists provided a new aspect of this relationship: how cross-immunity collaborates in the face of new variants. Why does this happen and what does it mean, according to an expert consulted by Infobae

“Recent studies have suggested that memory T cells play a fundamental role in protecting people immunized with SARS-CoV-2 vaccines against variants,” begins the article published in Science Immunology. In this sense, the document focuses on the behavior evidenced by the immune system after facing “an irruptive subvariant infection (infection after vaccination) of Omicron” and how, subsequently, it learns to combat the new subvariants.

In the words of the experts, the study “tracked the responses of memory T cells” in a group of vaccinated people in South Korea who experienced an infection with this subvariant (BA.2) and managed to determine that “the vaccine “BNT162b2 (NdeR: Pfizer) induced BA.4/BA.5 spike-specific memory CD4 + and CD8 + T cells, even if these individuals had prior SARS-CoV-2 infection.”

These words, which may seem extremely difficult to understand, could translate into the human immune response being modified to confront the new variants of SARS-CoV-2. That is to say that the immune system, which warned of a breakthrough infection before Omicron, “acquires improved immunity against future versions of Omicron.” In short, specific cells of the immune system “trained” to learn to attack pathogens after overcoming infection (natural or “induced” by vaccines) recognized other variants.

Scientists identify memory T cells active in the face of infection, a crucial discovery that highlights the immune system’s ability to adapt and remember pathogens (Courtesy National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID))

To understand in depth what this finding means, it is first essential to know (broadly) how the immune system behaves. Whether due to the entry of a pathogen or the application of a vaccine, the body initiates a perfectly choreographed chain (or domino) reaction. Once a germ enters the body, two behaviors are initiated: antibodies and T lymphocytes are created.

Each of these parts has a particular function: while antibodies, the first to emerge in the body, generally bind to pathogens to mark them for recognition and elimination, T lymphocytes are responsible for annihilating them and, in addition, remembering what they were like. and how to destroy them if they re-enter the body.

To explain it, if you want to make a kind of war analogy, antibodies are the front-line soldiers, while lymphocytes are the elite warriors.

The immunological role of neutralizing antibodies and memory T cells Courtesy Institute of Basic Sciences (IBS)

This behavior has an extra point. The immune system becomes more intelligent after each encounter with SARS-CoV-2, as explained by the Korean scientists in the research. And his learning is not only by facing the virus, but also by being trained with vaccines. It is even so broad that it not only manages to recognize the original “invader”, but also his entire “family”.

In that tone, the team of specialists led by Professor Eui-Cheol Shin from the Center for Viral Immunology of the Korea Virus Research Institute, within the Institute of Basic Sciences (IBS), highlighted in a press release that “after infected or vaccinated, the body creates neutralizing antibodies and memory T cells against the virus,” which then manages to recognize the variants that emerged later.

“Cross immunity occurs with almost all vaccines. This means that, although you have those parts that make you produce antibodies, which are called antigens and are very specific to each strain, there are other components of the virus that are other minor antigens that are maintained by all strains,” he explained to Infobae. Ricardo Teijeiro (MN 58065), infectious disease specialist at the Pirovano Hospital and member of the Argentine Society of Infectious Diseases (SADI).

Memory T cells formed during breakthrough Omicron infection also react to these emerging variants Courtesy Institute of Basic Sciences (IBS)

In the words of the expert, “if you have already generated antibodies, you can have cross immunity with different variants. Having been vaccinated with strains such as traditional ones or with Omicron can also induce immunity to new strains.” Likewise, the specialist clarified: “With vaccination, immunity is achieved not only for the strains with which one is vaccinated but also for new ones. This does not mean that you should not get vaccinated or revaccinate, because antibodies and the defense mechanism decrease.”

To understand this behavior in depth, Korean scientists focused their attention on memory T cells, more durable than antibodies, that were formed after Omicron infection. That is why they selected as volunteers patients who suffered and recovered from a breakthrough BA.2 infection at the beginning of 2022 and sought to know their response capacity to different Omicron variants, such as BA.2, BA.4. / BA/5 and later.

After performing an analysis, the scientists were able to identify that the T cells showed a strong response to both BA.2 and these later variants. Furthermore, as indicated in a statement, “the research team also discovered the specific part of the spike protein that is the main cause of the improvement seen in memory T cells. These results show that once a person suffers a breakthrough infection from Omicron infection, it is unlikely that he will ever suffer severe COVID-19 symptoms due to future emerging variants.”

Discovery reveals unique adaptability of the immune system, offering insights into how the human body adjusts to face the continued evolution of COVID-19 (Illustrative Image Infobae)

Min Kyung Jung, who also led the research, said: “This finding gives us new perspectives in the new endemic era of COVID,” adding: “It can be understood that, in response to the constant emergence of new variants of the virus, our “Bodies have also adapted to combat future strains of the virus.”

While director Shin added: “This new finding can also be applied to vaccine development.” “By looking for common characteristics between the current dominant strain and new emerging virus strains, there may be greater possibilities of inducing memory T cell defenses against subsequent variants,” analyzed the professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. and main author of the article.

In any case, and in response to Shin’s words about “an endemic era for COVID-19,” Teijeiro highlighted the importance of vaccination and warned: “At this time, where we are seeing an increase in cases, those who are at risk are people who are risk groups. Even more so when thinking that not only COVID is going to circulate in the world, but also different viruses simultaneously, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial, which already have an approved vaccine for some population groups.”

2024-01-23 00:53:00
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