Scientists from Altai State University studied the mechanism of immunity to COVID-19

Scientists from the Russian-American Anti-Cancer Center of Altai State University, together with colleagues from Altai State Medical University, published the article “Antibodies to the receptor-binding domain of the spike glycoprotein during 4-13 months after COVID-19.” It presents the results of a study of the blood of those who have recovered from coronavirus to determine the patterns of formation and maintenance of immunity to this infection.

The article is coauthored by Dmitry Shcherbakov, a leading researcher of the Russian-American Anti-Cancer Center of AltSU, Candidate of Biological Sciences, and Evgenia Kolosova, a junior researcher of RAACC.

“Before starting the study, we hypothesized that people who had mild COVID-19 symptoms had a lower antibody response than those who had moderate ones. Especially for the study, we constructed a recombinant RBD protein corresponding to the RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein. This is a section of the coronavirus surface protein that allows the virus to attach and take hold in the lung tissue. And it is to this that the body develops immunity,” said one of the authors of the article, a junior researcher at the Altai State University Research Center Evgenia Kolosova.

The study involved residents of Altai Krai who had COVID-19 between May 2020 and February 2021 (two increases in the occurrence of COVID-19 were recorded during this period).

Participants came once every 2-3 months to have their venous blood tested for the titer of class G antibodies to the recombinant RBD protein.

The scientists have found that IgG antibodies to the RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein can remain in the blood for at least 13 months after infection. Antibody levels are influenced by age and viral infection of the lungs, which determine the severity of the disease.

“As follows from the data obtained, the greater the age in the range from 27 to 93 years and the more extensive the damage to the lungs during the illness, the more likely it is to detect a higher titer of IgG antibodies to the RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein 4-5 months after acute period of infection. On the other hand, the higher the antibody titer in the period 4-5 months after the illness, the more likely it is that the antibody titer will decrease in subsequent months,” noted Evgenia Kolosova.

Currently, Dmitry Shcherbakov, a leading researcher at the Russian-American Anti-Cancer Center of Altai State University, who is also head of the State Research Center of virology and biotechnology VECTOR, is conducting clinical trials of a new vaccine against COVID-19.