When we talk about antibodies against COVID-19, we tend to mean the so-called neutralizing antibodies, that offer protection by blocking the virus from invading our cells. Now, a new study from Lund University in Sweden has revealed that non-neutralizing antibodies may also be important in providing protection against COVID.

"Our results indicate that non-neutralizing antibodies could also provide protection. This would mean that we have broader protection from antibodies than previously thought, making us less vulnerable to mutations of the virus. It warrants further investigation," says Pontus Nordenfelt who led the study and is a researcher at Lund University.

In its efforts to produce vaccines and treatments, the research community has focused on neutralisingantibodies, which prevent the spike protein of the virus from binding to the surface protein on our cells.

In a large project led by researchers at Lund University, a more detailed study has been carried out on how the immune system also fights off the virus by means of phagocytosis, the ability to ingest foreign particles, in COVID-19 patients.

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