Persistence of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Non-Hospitalized COVID-19 Convalescent Health Care Workers

Journal of Clinical Medicine

PierGiuseppe Pelicci¹  Silvia Monzani¹  Federica Facciotti¹  Margherita Bruni¹  Angelica Diaz-Basabe¹  Gioacchino Natoli¹  Giuseppina Bonizzi¹  Clara Visintin¹  Francesca Rizzelli¹  Georgia Lattanzi¹  Marina Mapelli¹  Erika Mileti¹  Sebastiano Pasqualato¹  Laura Pirovano¹  Valentina Cecatiello¹  Flavio Caprioli²  Marialuisa Lavitrano³  Marco Giani³  Silvia Faravelli⁴  Federico Forneris⁴ 

[1] Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, via Adamello 16, 20139 Milan, Italy;Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Policlinico Milano, Via F. Sforza 35, 20135 Milan, Italy;School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, via Cadore 48, 20900 Monza, Italy;The Armenise-Harvard Laboratory of Structural Biology, Department of Biology and Biotechnology “L. Spallanzani”, University of Pavia, via Ferrata 9, 27100 Pavia, Italy;

关键词: COVID-19;    SARS-CoV-2;    anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies;    pro-inflammatory mediators;   

DOI  :  10.3390/jcm9103188

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Although antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 can be detected early during the infection, several outstanding questions remain to be addressed regarding the magnitude and persistence of antibody titer against different viral proteins and their correlation with the strength of the immune response. An ELISA assay has been developed by expressing and purifying the recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Spike Receptor Binding Domain (RBD), Soluble Ectodomain (Spike), and full length Nucleocapsid protein (N). Sera from healthcare workers affected by non-severe COVID-19 were longitudinally collected over four weeks, and compared to sera from patients hospitalized in Intensive Care Units (ICU) and SARS-CoV-2-negative subjects for the presence of IgM, IgG and IgA antibodies as well as soluble pro-inflammatory mediators in the sera. Non-hospitalized subjects showed lower antibody titers and blood pro-inflammatory cytokine profiles as compared to patients in Intensive Care Units (ICU), irrespective of the antibodies tested. Noteworthy, in non-severe COVID-19 infections, antibody titers against RBD and Spike, but not against the N protein, as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines decreased within a month after viral clearance. Thus, rapid decline in antibody titers and in pro-inflammatory cytokines may be a common feature of non-severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, suggesting that antibody-mediated protection against re-infection with SARS-CoV-2 is of short duration. These results suggest caution in using serological testing to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population.

【 授权许可】

Unknown