1. Successful treatment of COVID-19 infection with convalescent plasma in B-cell-depleted patients may promote cellular immunity.
- Author
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Kremer AE, Kremer AN, Willam C, Völkl S, Verhagen J, Achenbach S, van der Meijden ED, Lang V, Aigner M, Maier C, Tenbusch M, Korn K, Lutzny-Geier G, Spoerl S, Strauß R, Vetter M, Überla K, Neurath MF, Mackensen A, Schiffer M, and Hackstein H
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Aged, Antibodies, Neutralizing blood, B-Lymphocytes cytology, Humans, Immunity, Cellular immunology, Immunization, Passive methods, Lymphocyte Count, Lymphocyte Depletion, Lymphoma, B-Cell drug therapy, Lymphoma, Mantle-Cell drug therapy, Male, Middle Aged, Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma drug therapy, Rituximab adverse effects, SARS-CoV-2 immunology, Treatment Outcome, Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 9 metabolism, COVID-19 Serotherapy, Antibodies, Viral blood, B-Lymphocytes immunology, COVID-19 therapy, T-Lymphocytes immunology
- Abstract
Treatment with convalescent plasma has been shown to be safe in coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19) infection, although efficacy reported in immunocompetent patients varies. Nevertheless, neutralizing antibodies are a key requisite in the fight against viral infections. Patients depleted of antibody-producing B cells, such as those treated with rituximab (anti-CD20) for hematological malignancies, lack a fundamental part of their adaptive immunity. Treatment with convalescent plasma appears to be of general benefit in this particularly vulnerable cohort. We analyzed clinical course and inflammation markers of three B-cell-depleted patients suffering from COVID-19 who were treated with convalescent plasma. In addition, we measured serum antibody levels as well as peripheral blood CD38/HLA-DR-positive T-cells ex vivo and CD137-positive T-cells after in vitro stimulation with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-derived peptides in these patients. We observed that therapy with convalescent plasma was effective in all three patients and analysis of CD137-positive T-cells after stimulation with SARS-CoV-2 peptides showed an increase in peptide-specific T-cells after application of convalescent plasma. In conclusion, we here demonstrate efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy in three B-cell-depleted patients and present data that suggest that while application of convalescent plasma elevates systemic antibody levels only transiently, it may also boost specific T-cell responses., (© 2021 The Authors. European Journal of Immunology published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)
- Published
- 2021
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