Successful treatment of COVID-19 infection with convalescent plasma in B-cell-depleted patients may promote cellular immunity

Kremer AE, Kremer A, Willam C, Völkl S, Verhagen J, Achenbach S, van der Meijden E, Lang V, Aigner M, Maier C, Tenbusch M, Korn K, Lutzny-Geier G, Spörl S, Strauss R, Vetter M, Überla K, Neurath M, Mackensen A, Schiffer M, Hackstein H (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

European Journal of Immunology Wiley-VCH Verlag

DOI: 10.1002/eji.202149277

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.

Authors with CRIS profile

Anita Kremer Department of Medicine 5 – Haematology and Oncology Carsten Willam Department of Medicine 4 – Nephrology and Hypertension Simon Völkl Department of Medicine 5 – Haematology and Oncology Johan Verhagen Department of Medicine 5 – Haematology and Oncology Susanne Achenbach Department of Transfusion Medicine and Haemostaseology Matthias Tenbusch Professur für Genbasierte Immunisierungsverfahren Klaus Korn Institute of Clinical and Molecular Virology Gloria Lutzny-Geier Department of Medicine 5 – Haematology and Oncology Silvia Spörl Department of Medicine 5 – Haematology and Oncology Richard Strauss Department of Medicine 1 – Gastroenterology, Pneumology and Endocrinology Marcel Vetter Department of Medicine 1 – Gastroenterology, Pneumology and Endocrinology Klaus Überla Lehrstuhl für Klinische und Molekulare Virologie Markus Neurath Lehrstuhl für Innere Medizin I Andreas Mackensen Lehrstuhl für Innere Medizin V Mario Schiffer Lehrstuhl für Innere Medizin IV Holger Hackstein Professur für Transfusionsmedizin und Cell-Engineering

Involved external institutions

Universitätsspital Zürich (USZ) CH Switzerland (CH)

How to cite

APA:

Kremer, A.E., Kremer, A., Willam, C., Völkl, S., Verhagen, J., Achenbach, S.,... Hackstein, H. (2021). Successful treatment of COVID-19 infection with convalescent plasma in B-cell-depleted patients may promote cellular immunity. European Journal of Immunology. https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.202149277

MLA:

Kremer, Andreas E., et al. "Successful treatment of COVID-19 infection with convalescent plasma in B-cell-depleted patients may promote cellular immunity." European Journal of Immunology (2021).

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