As the number of people who have fought off SARS-CoV-2 climbs ever higher, a critical question has grown in importance: How long will their immunity to the novel coronavirus last? A new Rockefeller study offers an encouraging answer, suggesting that those who recover from COVID-19 are protected against the virus for at least six months, and likely much longer.
隨著抗擊SARS-CoV-2的人數越來越多，一個關鍵的問題變得越來越重要:他們對新型冠狀病毒的免疫力能持續多久?洛克菲勒的一項新研究給出了一個令人鼓舞的答案，表明那些從COVID-19中康復的人至少可以抵抗病毒6個月，可能更長時間。
The findings, published in Nature, provide the strongest evidence yet that the immune system “remembers” the virus and, remarkably, continues to improve the quality of antibodies even after the infection has waned. Antibodies produced months after the infection showed increased ability to block SARS-CoV-2, as well as its mutated versions such as the South African variant.
發表在《自然》雜誌上的研究結果提供了迄今為止最有力的證據，證明免疫系統「記住」了該病毒，而且值得注意的是，即使在感染減弱之後，抗體的質量仍在繼續提高。感染幾個月後產生的抗體對SARS-CoV-2及其南非變種等變異病毒的阻斷能力增強。
The researchers found that these improved antibodies are produced by immune cells that have kept evolving, apparently due to a continued exposure to the remnants of the virus hidden in the gut tissue.
研究人員發現，這些改進的抗體是由不斷進化的免疫細胞產生的，這顯然是由於持續暴露於隱藏在腸道組織中的殘留病毒。
Based on these findings, researchers suspect that when the recovered patient next encounters the virus, the response would be both faster and more effective, preventing re-infection.
基於這些發現，研究人員懷疑，當康復的患者再次遇到病毒時，反應會更快、更有效，從而防止再次感染。
“This is really exciting news. The type of immune response we see here could potentially provide protection for quite some time, by enabling the body to mount a rapid and effective response to the virus upon re-exposure,” says Michel C. Nussenzweig, the Zanvil A. Cohn and Ralph M. Steinman Professor and head of the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, whose team has been tracking and characterizing antibody response in Covid-19 patients since the early days of the pandemic in New York.
「這真是令人興奮的消息。免疫應答的類型我們看到可能提供保護在相當一段時間內,通過使身體迅速有效地應對病毒山再次接觸,」米歇爾·c·壓力說Zanvil a·科恩和拉爾夫·m·斯坦曼教授、分子免疫學實驗室的負責人,他的團隊一直在跟蹤和描述抗體反應Covid-19病人早期以來流行在紐約。
Long-lasting memory
Antibodies, which the body creates in response to infection, linger in the blood plasma for several weeks or months, but their levels significantly drop with time. The immune system has a more efficient way of dealing with pathogens: instead of producing antibodies all the time , it creates memory B cells that recognize the pathogen, and can quickly unleash a new round of antibodies when they encounter it a second time.
人體為應對感染而產生的抗體會在血漿中停留數週或數月，但其水平會隨著時間的推移而顯著下降。免疫系統有一種更有效的方法來對付病原體:它不再一直產生抗體，而是產生記憶B細胞來識別病原體，並在第二次遇到病原體時迅速釋放新一輪抗體。
But how well this memory works depends on the pathogen. To understand the case with SARS-CoV-2, Nussenzweig and his colleagues studied the antibody responses of 87 individuals at two timepoints: one month after infection, and then again six months later. As expected, they found that although antibodies were still detectable by the six-month point, their numbers had markedly decreased. Lab experiments showed that the ability of the participants’ plasma samples to neutralize the virus was reduced by five-fold.
但這種記憶的效果取決於病原體。為了了解SARS-CoV-2病例，Nussenzweig和他的同事研究了87個個體在兩個時間點的抗體反應:感染後一個月和6個月後。正如預期的那樣，他們發現儘管抗體在六個月後仍然可以檢測到，但它們的數量已經顯著減少。實驗室實驗表明，參與者的血漿樣本中和病毒的能力降低了五倍。
In contrast, the patients’ memory B cells, specifically those that produce antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, did not decline in number, and even slightly increased in some cases. “The overall numbers of memory B cells that produced antibodies attacking the Achilles ‘ heel of the virus, known as the receptor-binding domain, stayed the same,” says Christian Gaebler, a physician and immunologist in Nussenzweig’s lab. “That’s good news because those are the ones that you need if you encounter the virus again. “
Viral stowaways
A closer look at the memory B cells revealed something surprising: these cells had gone through numerous rounds of mutation even after the infection resolved, and as a result the antibodies they produced were much more effective than the originals. Subsequent lab experiments showed this new set of antibodies were better able to latch on tightly to the virus and could recognize even mutated versions of it.
相比之下，患者的記憶B細胞，特別是那些產生抗SARS-CoV-2抗體的B細胞，並沒有減少，在某些病例中甚至略有增加。 Nussenzweig實驗室的醫生和免疫學家Christian Gaebler說:「產生抗體的記憶B細胞攻擊病毒的阿基里斯之踵，也就是受體結合域，其總數保持不變。」「這是個好消息，因為如果你再次遇到病毒，這些就是你所需要的。」
“We were surprised to see the memory B cells had kept evolving during this time,” Nussenzweig says. “That often happens in chronic infections, like HIV or herpes, where the virus lingers in the body. But we weren’t expecting to see it with SARS-CoV-2, which is thought to leave the body after infection has resolved.”
Nussenzweig說:「我們很驚訝地看到記憶B細胞在這段時間裡一直在進化。」這通常發生在愛滋病毒或皰疹等慢性感染中，病毒在體內徘徊。但我們沒有預料到SARS-CoV-2會在感染消失後離開人體。 」
SARS-CoV-2 replicates in certain cells in the lungs, upper throat, and small intestine, and residual viral particles hiding within these tissues
could be driving the evolution of memory cells. To look into this hypothesis, the researchers have teamed up with Saurabh Mehandru, a former Rockefeller scientist and currently a physician at Mount Sinai Hospital, who has been examining biopsies of intestinal tissue from people who had recovered from COVID-19 on average three months earlier.
SARS-CoV-2在肺、上喉和小腸的某些細胞中復制，隱藏在這些組織中的殘留病毒顆粒可能會驅動記憶細胞的進化。為了研究這一假設，研究人員與洛克菲勒前科學家、現為西奈山醫院(Mount Sinai Hospital)醫生的Saurabh Mehandru合作，他一直在檢查平均三個月前從COVID-19病中康復的人的腸道組織活檢。
In seven of the 14 individuals studied, tests showed the presence of SARS-CoV-2’s genetic material and its proteins in the cells that line the intestines. The researchers don’t know whether these viral left-overs are still infectious or are simply the remains of dead viruses.
在被研究的14人中，有7人的腸道細胞中存在SARS-CoV-2的遺傳物質和蛋白質。研究人員不知道這些殘留的病毒是否仍然具有傳染性，或者僅僅是死亡病毒的殘留物。
The team plans to study more people to better understand what role the viral stowaways may play in both the progression of the disease and in immunity.
該團隊計劃對更多的人進行研究，以更好地了解病毒偷渡者在疾病進展和免疫方面可能發揮的作用。
最後更新: 2026 6 月