- This test, consisting of a small blood sample, is indicated for immunosuppressed patients who want to verify their degree of immunity, but also for citizens who want to assess the efficacy of the vaccine or the consequences of the Covid infection on their immune system.
- Currently, this test is carried out in the laboratories of the Immunological Center of Alicante (Elche), the Ribera Povisa hospital (Vigo) and the Juan Cardona hospital (Ferrol).
Ribera Lab, the laboratory division of the Ribera healthcare group, has incorporated a new test into its portfolio of services that allows assessing a person's cellular immune response against Covid. With this test, anyone can find out the state of their immune system to fight the virus, after having been vaccinated or infected, although the test is especially indicated for immunocompromised patients and groups especially vulnerable to Covid.
As the Ribera Lab specialists explain, "there are two types of acquired adaptive immune response, humoral and cellular." "The cellular response against SARS-CoV-2 usually appears in parallel to the humoral response, mediated by antibodies, although it tends to last longer and be more sensitive," they add, since "it has been observed prevalent in asymptomatic patients, with symptomatology mild or even that have barely generated measurable antibodies with specific techniques”.
“T lymphocytes or T cells are part of the cellular immune response and are the main defense mechanism against intracellular microorganisms”, as explained by specialists from the Ribera group's laboratory division. In fact, the T-cell response to actual infection and when the Covid vaccine is administered is similar. "Contact with SARS-CoV-2 triggers the cellular response of T lymphocytes, which, when stimulated with viral antigens, among others, release what is known as Interferon Gamma (INF-γ)," they say.
There are still many unknowns surrounding the spread of this virus and its variants, as well as the different response of each person's immune system when infected. However, the advancement and improvement of this type of serological tests allows more information to be provided to patients who are especially vulnerable to Covid or to those who want to know the cellular immunity generated after the administration of the vaccines, the passage of the infection or the combination of both. assumptions. This is how the Ribera Lab specialists explain it: “The cellular response serves as a complement to the determination of antibodies and allows the evaluation of the response of patients with positive serology, who have passed Covid-19 or have been vaccinated; assess immunity in immunocompromised patients; and evaluate the efficacy of the vaccine”. And they add that "due to the very nature of the test, it is especially indicated in patients with the suspicion or certainty of having contracted Covid or who, having been vaccinated, have not generated antibodies."
But any citizen can clear up doubts with this test, consisting of a small blood sample, available at the centers that Ribera Lab has at the Ribera Povisa hospital (Vigo), the Juan Cardona hospital (Ferrol) and at the Alicante Immunological Center (Elche). The test to determine the degree of immunization is performed by exposing a concentrated lymphocyte from the patient to a protein extract of SARS-CoV-2 own antigens (protein P, N, M, and S), and the release is detected using an ELISA technique. of Inferon Gamma INF-γ by blood T lymphocytes.
