A compromised specific humoral immune response against the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain is related to viral persistence and periodic shedding in the gastrointestinal tract.

A compromised specific humoral immune response against the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain is related to viral persistence and periodic shedding in the gastrointestinal tract. Cell Mol Immunol. 2020 Oct 09;: Authors: Hu F, Chen F, Ou Z, Fan Q, Tan X, Wang Y, Pan Y, Ke B, Li L, Guan Y, Mo X, Wang J, Wang J, Luo C, Wen X, Li M, Ren P, Ke C, Li J, Lei C, Tang X, Li F Abstract Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been redetected after discharge in some coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. The reason for the recurrent positivity of the test and the potential public health concern due to this occurrence are still unknown. Here, we analyzed the viral data and clinical manifestations of 289 domestic Chinese COVID-19 patients and found that 21 individuals (7.3%) were readmitted for hospitalization after detection of SARS-CoV-2 after discharge. First, we experimentally confirmed that the virus was involved in the initial infection and was not a secondary infection. In positive retests, the virus was usually found in anal samples (15 of 21, 71.4%). Through analysis of the intracellular viral subgenomic messenger RNA (sgmRNA), we verified that positive retest patients had active viral replication in their gastrointestinal tracts (3 of 16 patients, 18.7%) but not in their respiratory tracts. Then, we found that viral persistence was not associated with high viral titers, delayed viral clearance, old age, or...
Source: Cellular and Molecular Immunology - Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Tags: Cell Mol Immunol Source Type: research