Clearance of persistent SARS-CoV-2 associates with increased neutralizing antibodies in advanced HIV disease post-ART initiation

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Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 clearance requires adaptive immunity but the contribution of neutralizing antibodies and T cells in different immune states is unclear. Here we ask which adaptive immune responses associate with clearance of long-term SARS-CoV-2 infection in HIV-mediated immunosuppression after suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. We assembled a cohort of SARS-CoV-2 infected people in South Africa (n = 994) including participants with advanced HIV disease characterized by immunosuppression due to T cell depletion. Fifty-four percent of participants with advanced HIV disease had prolonged SARS-CoV-2 infection (>1 month). In the five vaccinated participants with advanced HIV disease tested, SARS-CoV-2 clearance associates with emergence of neutralizing antibodies but not SARS-CoV-2 specific CD8 T cells, while CD4 T cell responses were not determined due to low cell numbers. Further, complete HIV suppression is not required for clearance, although it is necessary for an effective vaccine response. Persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection led to SARS-CoV-2 evolution, including virus with extensive neutralization escape in a Delta variant infected participant. The results provide evidence that neutralizing antibodies are required for SARS-CoV-2 clearance in HIV-mediated immunosuppression recovery, and that suppressive ART is necessary to curtail evolution of co-infecting pathogens to reduce individual health consequences as well as public health risk linked with generation of escape mutants.
Funding Information
  • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (INV-018944)
  • Wellcome Trust (226137/Z/22/Z)
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI138546-05)

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