People carrying antibodies to coronaviruses that cause common colds are at a reduced risk of catching, and being hospitalised for, COVID-19, according to a new study.
The team, based at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, investigated how SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses are linked to pre-existing immunity to other coronaviruses.
They analysed 825 samples taken before the pandemic and 389 samples from people infected with COVID.
Using computational modelling, they found "intriguing interrelations with coronavirus immunity".
"Specifically, higher coronavirus antibody levels in SARS-CoV-2-negative donors suggest that pre-existing coronavirus immunity may provide protection against SARS-CoV-2 acquisition", they report in Nature Communications.
They add that coronavirus immunity may impact disease severity, as patients with high coronavirus reactivity are less likely to require hospitalisation.
"Collectively, our results suggest that coronavirus immunity may promote rapid development of SARS-CoV-2-specific immunity, thereby underscoring the importance of exploring cross-protective responses for comprehensive coronavirus prevention," they conclude.
Researcher Dr Alexandra Trkola commented: “Our study shows that a strong antibody response to human coronaviruses increases the level of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. So, someone who has gained immunity to harmless coronaviruses is therefore also better protected against severe SARS-CoV-2 infections.
“Of course, immune responses targeting SARS-CoV-2 that are mounted by the memory cells are far more effective than cross-reactive responses. But even though the protection isn’t absolute, cross-reactive immune responses shorten the infection and reduce its severity.
"And this is exactly what is also achieved through vaccination, just much, much more efficiently.”
Abela, I. A. et al. Multifactorial seroprofiling dissects the contribution of pre-existing human coronaviruses responses to SARS-CoV-2 immunity. Nature Communications 18 November 2021; doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27040-x
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