Antibody treatment prevents inflammation in lungs, nervous system in
macaques with SARS-CoV-2, study finds

Date:
November 1, 2021
Source:
University of California - Davis
Summary:
Monoclonal antibodies protected aged, diabetic rhesus macaque
monkeys from disease due to SARS-CoV-2 and reduced signs of
inflammation, including in cerebrospinal fluid, according to a
new study.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Monoclonal antibodies protected aged, diabetic rhesus macaque monkeys from disease due to SARS-CoV-2 and reduced signs of inflammation, including
in cerebrospinal fluid, according to a new study from researchers at
the University of California, Davis. The work is published Oct. 18 in
the journal Cell Reports.


==========================================================================
The data show that neutralizing antibodies prevent the adverse
inflammatory consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the authors said. The results help explain how antibodies, whether induced by vaccines or after infection, or given as a treatment, can affect the course of disease. They
also suggest that antibodies could be given as a preventative treatment
to people at high risk, such as elderly residents during an outbreak in
a nursing home.

"COVID-19 is more severe in elderly people and those with pre-existing conditions," said Smita Iyer, associate professor of pathology,
microbiology and immunology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
and Center for Immunology and Infectious Disease, and a core investigator
at the California National Primate Research Center.

"The elderly and diabetics tend to be immunosuppressed, but if you can get antibody levels high enough, you can prevent severe infection," she said.

Immune responses induced by vaccines are very effective at preventing
severe disease and death. But an overwhelming inflammatory immune response could also be responsible for much of the damage of severe infections.

Immune responses induced by vaccines are very effective at preventing
severe disease and death. But an overwhelming inflammatory immune response could also be responsible for much of the damage of severe infections.

"We want to know, what are the immune determinants of disease," Iyer said.



========================================================================== Iyer, graduate student Jamin (J.W.) Roh, postdoctoral scholar Anil Verma
and colleagues studied two human monoclonal antibodies that target the
spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 virus in aging, diabetic rhesus macaques. At
21 to 22 years old, the macaques were equivalent to humans in their
mid-60s. Like many aging humans, they had developed hypertension and
diabetes but were otherwise healthy. The animals were infused with
antibodies three days before being infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Preventing inflammation in the central nervous system The COVID infections
in rhesus macaques were generally mild, especially in animals pretreated
with monoclonal antibodies. Control animals had more signs of inflammation
in their lungs.

The researchers found infiltration of activated immune cells, or
T cells, into the cerebrospinal fluid of control animals a week
after infection. They did not find any viral RNA in cerebrospinal
fluid. Macaques treated with antibodies did not show inflammation in
the cerebrospinal fluid.

These signs of inflammation in the central nervous system might be
connected to neurological symptoms of COVID-19 disease in humans, and
possibly "long COVID" in which patients experience an array of symptoms
for months after infection.

Additional authors on the paper are: at UC Davis, Chase Hawes, Yashavanth
Shaan Lakshmanappa, Brian Schmidt, Joseph Dutra, William Louie, Hongwei
Liu, Zhong- Min Ma, Jennifer Watanabe, Jodie Usachenko, Ramya Immareddy, Rebecca Samak, Rachel Pollard, J. Rachel Reader, Katherine Olstad, Lark
Coffey, Dennis Hartigan-O'Connor, Koen Van Rompay and John Morrison;
Pamela Kozlowski, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans; and Michael Nussenzweig, The Rockefeller University, New York.

The work was supported by grants from the NIH.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_Davis. Original written by Andy Fell. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Anil Verma, Chase E. Hawes, Yashavanth Shaan Lakshmanappa, Jamin
W. Roh,
Brian A. Schmidt, Joseph Dutra, William Louie, Hongwei Liu,
Zhong-Min Ma, Jennifer K. Watanabe, Jodie L. Usachenko, Ramya
Immareddy, Rebecca L.

Sammak, Rachel Pollard, J. Rachel Reader, Katherine J. Olstad,
Lark L.

Coffey, Pamela A. Kozlowski, Dennis J. Hartigan-O'Connor, Michel
Nussenzweig, Koen K.A. Van Rompay, John H. Morrison, Smita S. Iyer.

Monoclonal antibodies protect aged rhesus macaques from SARS-CoV-2-
induced immune activation and neuroinflammation. Cell Reports,
2021; 109942 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109942 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211101141748.htm

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