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Surprising research results by Canadian scientists. It turned out that people over 50 produced more antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus than younger people. The results were published in the journal Scientific Reports. However, the surveyed group was too small to draw too far-reaching conclusions.
- Since the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, scientists have been investigating what gives greater immunity against COVID-19 – vaccine or infection
- Scientists are also interested in how long acquired immunity is maintained in both ways
- On the other hand, professors from Canada came to noteworthy conclusions. Their study found that people aged 19 and over produced more antibodies after a mild COVID-50 infection. Why?
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Antibodies – What Are They?
Antibodies, also known as immunoglobins (Ig), are proteins produced by plasma cells, i.e. stimulated B lymphocytes. Proper production of antibodies is the basis for the functioning of the immune system, they are designed to catch and neutralize viruses appearing in the body.
There are several classes of antibodies. They are first produced in the immune response to contact with the pathogen IgM antibodies. Their marking allows for the detection of active virus infection. Over time, IgM antibodies are replaced with more durable ones IgG antibodies, the presence of which indicates a past illness. IgG antibodies may persist in the blood serum for years after infection with a given pathogen.
The vaccine also produces antibodies. In the era of coronavirus, scientists are constantly checking what gives a stronger immune response – infection or vaccination.
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The rest of the text is below the video.
Healed or vaccinated?
Recently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published studies on immunity to COVID-19 after vaccination and outbreaks, and vaccination has been shown to provide stronger immunity to COVID-19 than previous infection, although in both cases it is usually persistent for at least six months.
The Washington Post featured two articles published by the CDC. The first is a study of hospitalized patients with symptoms similar to COVID-19. It showed that unvaccinated people who had previously been infected with coronavirus were five times more likely to be sick than vaccinated people.
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The second is a summary that takes into account more than 90 studies to date and previously unpublished data from the CDC itself. The researchers note that the results show that vaccination produces a “higher, stronger and more stable level of immunity in protecting people from COVID-19 than the infection itself”. The authors indicate that this is due to, inter alia, from the fact that the level of antibodies in people after an infection has been eradicated is much more variable than in the case of vaccines. In both cases, the data show that immunity is generally maintained for at least six months.
Older ones produce more antibodies?
Similar studies were carried out by Joelle Pelletier and Jean-François Massona from the Faculty of Chemistry at the Université de Montréal. That was in 2020, before the Beta, Delta, and Gamma variants even came out. They found that those who received the Pfizer BioNTech or AstraZeneca vaccine had significantly higher levels of antibodies than those who were infected. But it is not everything.
Masson, a biomedical instrument specialist, and Pelletier, an expert in protein chemistry, examined people who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 but missed the hospital as a result of the infection.
32 Canadian adults ranging in age from 18 to over 70 years of age were looked at, and antibody testing was performed 14 to 21 days after diagnosis by PCR testing. The results turned out to be surprising.
Anyone infected made antibodies, but older people produced more than those under 50 Masson said.
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Antibodies produced after infection by the primary “native” virus strain also responded to SARS-CoV-2 variants, which appeared in successive waves – Beta (South Africa), Delta (India) and Gamma (Brazil), but to a lesser extent (from 30 to 50 percent).
“ But the result that surprised us the most was that antibodies produced by naturally infected people aged 50 and over provide a higher degree of protection than those under 50 years of age. Said Pelletier.
“This was determined by measuring the ability of antibodies to inhibit the interaction of Delta variant spine protein with the ACE-2 receptor in human cells,” she added. – We have not observed the same phenomenon in other variants.
When someone who has had a mild case of COVID is vaccinated, the level of antibodies in the blood doubles compared to an unvaccinated person who has been infected with the virus. Their antibodies are also better able to prevent spike-ACE-2 interactions.
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“But what’s even more interesting,” Masson said, “we have samples from a person under the age of 49 in whom the infection did not develop antibodies to inhibit the spike-ACE-2 interaction, unlike vaccinations.” This suggests that vaccination increases protection against the Delta variant among people previously infected with the original strain.
Do you want to test your COVID-19 immunity after vaccination? Have you been infected and want to check your antibody levels? See the COVID-19 immunity test package, which you will perform at Diagnostics network points.
Surprising results, but the study group is too small
The results of Canadian scientists were commented on by dr hab. Piotr Rzymski, biologist at the Medical University in Poznań.
– Undoubtedly, the observations made in the Canadian study are a bit surprising. In the elderly, the immune system is less efficient. On the one hand, it is the effect of its aging, and on the other hand, the elderly often suffer from diseases that additionally weaken them. Some drugs taken chronically can also inhibit the immune system, even if they are not directly immunosuppressive drugs, he said.
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– The studied group of patients is small. That’s just 32 cases, spread across four age groups. And these groups are so small that it was impossible to compare them statistically, so under no circumstances should definitive conclusions be drawn from such studies. In fact, if not for the fact that the topic is about COVID-19, the reviewers and editors would probably suggest expanding the group. And so we have a very preliminary study that immediately became media coverage – added Dr. Rzymski.
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