Natural Killer Cell-Mediated Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity Against SARS-CoV-2 After Natural Infection Is More Potent Than After Vaccination
Gereon Rieke, Kathrin van Bremen, Jenny Bischoff, Michael ToVinh, Malte B. Monin, Stefan Schlabe, Jan Raabe, Kim M Kaiser, Claudia Finnemann, Alexandru Odainic, Anushka Kudaliyanage, Eicke Latz, Christian P. Strassburg, Christoph Boesecke, Susanne V. Schmidt, Benjamin Krämer, Jürgen K. Rockstroh, Jacob Nattermann
Abstract
We compared the ability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike-specific antibodies to induce natural killer cell-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) in patients with natural infection and vaccinated persons. Analyzing plasma samples from 39 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and 11 vaccinated individuals, significant induction of ADCC could be observed over a period of more than 3 months in both vaccinated and recovered individuals. Although plasma antibody concentrations were lower in recovered patients, we found antibodies elicited by natural infection induced a significantly stronger ADCC response compared to those induced by vaccination, which may affect protection conferred by vaccination.