Seroprevalence of Anti-S1-RBD Antibodies in Pre-pandemic and Pandemic Subjects From Hail Region, KSA

Frontiers in Public Health

Noor Alam¹  Subuhi Sherwani²  Mahvish Khan²  Mohd Wajid Ali Khan³  Ayed A. Shati⁴  Arshi Mallik⁵  Mohd Saleem⁶  Mohamed Raafat⁷ 

[1] Department of Basic Sciences, Deanship of Preparatory Year, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia;Department of Biology, College of Sciences, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia;Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia;Department of Child Health, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia;Department of Clinical Biochemistry, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia;Department of Pathology, Sub-division of Medical Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia;Department of Physiotherapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia;

关键词: SARS-CoV-2;    S1-RBD;    COVID-19;    ELISA;    antibodies;    seroprevalence;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2022.874741

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundTwo years into the pandemic, yet the threat of new SARS-CoV-2 variants continues to loom large. Sustained efforts are required to fully understand the infection in asymptomatic individuals and those with complications. Identification, containment, care, and preventative strategies rely on understanding the varied humoral immune responses.MethodsAn in-house ELISA was developed and standardized to screen for serum IgG antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 S1-RBD protein as an antigen. This study aims to investigate the seroprevalence of serum antibodies against S1-RBD antigen in pre-pandemic (n = 120) and during the early pandemic period (n = 120) in subjects from the Hail region, KSA and to correlate it with clinical and demographic factors.ResultsSamples collected from both male (n = 60) and female (n = 60) subjects during the pandemic in the age groups of 20–40 (0.31 ± 0.029 and 0.29 ± 0.024, respectively) and 41–60 years (0.35 ± 0.026 and 0.30 ± 0.025, respectively) showed significantly higher levels of serum antibodies against S-RBD antigen than the age-matched pre-pandemic samples [male (n = 60) and female (n = 60)]. Pandemic subjects exhibited significantly (p < 0.01) higher inhibition (80–88%) than age-matched pre-pandemic subjects (32–39%). Antibodies against S1-RBD antigen were detected in approximately 10% of the total pre-pandemic population (males and females). However, subjects > 60 years did not show antibodies.ConclusionAntibody levels increased in samples collected during the pandemic, even though these subjects were not clinically COVID-19 positive. A small number of pre-pandemic subjects showed serum antibodies, suggesting prior exposure to other coronaviruses in the region. With dwindling neutralizing antibody levels and reduced vaccine efficacy against newer variants, it remains crucial to develop better assays for surveillance, management, and future research.

【 授权许可】

Unknown