Being overweight hampers body’s immune response to SARS-CoV-2

University of Queensland-led research shows being overweight can impair the body’s antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 infection but not to the protection offered by vaccination. Research lead, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences PhD candidate Marcus Tong, said the finding built on the team’s existing research on how COVID-19 affects people who are overweight. “We’ve previously shown that being overweight – not just being obese – increases the severity of SARS-CoV-2,” Mr. Tong said. “But this work shows that being overweight creates an impaired antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 infection but not to vaccination.” The research team collected blood samples from people who had recovered from COVID-19 and not been re-infected during the study period, approximately 3 months and 13 months post-infection. “At 3 months post-infection, an elevated BMI was associated with reduced antibody levels,” Mr. Tong said. “And at 13 months post-infection, an elevated BMI was associated with both reduced antibody activity and a reduced percentage of...