Clinical Characteristics of Immune Response in Asymptomatic Carriers and Symptomatic Patients With COVID-19

The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a major public health challenge worldwide. A comprehensive understanding of clinical characteristics and immune responses in asymptomatic carriers and symptomatic patients with COVID-19 is of great significance to the countermeasures of patients with COVID-19. Herein, we described the clinical information and laboratory findings of 43 individuals from Hunan Province, China, including 13 asymptomatic carriers and 10 symptomatic patients with COVID-19, as well as 20 healthy controls in the period from 25 January to 18 May 2020. The serum samples of these individuals were analyzed to measure the cytokine responses, receptor-binding domain (RBD), and nucleocapsid (N) protein-specific antibody titers, as well as SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies (nAbs). For cytokines, significantly higher Th1 cytokines including IL-2, IL-8, IL-12p70, IFN-gamma, and TNF-alpha, as well as Th2 cytokines including IL-10 and IL-13 were observed in symptomatic patients compared with asymptomatic carriers. Compared with symptomatic patients, higher N-specific IgG4/IgG1 ratio and RBD-specific/N-specific IgG1 ratio were observed in asymptomatic carriers. Comparable nAbs were detected in both asymptomatic carriers and symptomatic patients with COVID-19. In the symptomatic group, nAbs in patients with underlying diseases were weaker than those of patients without underlying diseases. Our retrospective study will enrich and verify the clinical characteristics and serology diversities in asymptomatic carriers and symptomatic patients with COVID-19.

Automated summary

This study investigates the clinical characteristics, cytokine responses, and antibody levels in asymptomatic carriers and symptomatic patients with COVID-19. The results show that symptomatic patients have higher levels of cytokines, while asymptomatic carriers have higher levels of specific antibodies. Comparable levels of neutralizing antibodies were detected in both groups.