Loading…

SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Responses Do Not Predict COVID19 Disease Severity

Objectives: Initial reports indicate adequate performance of some serology-based severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2) assays. However, additional studies are required to facilitate interpretation of results, including how antibody levels impact immunity and disease course. Met...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of clinical pathology 2020-10, Vol.154 (4)
Main Authors: Phipps, William S, SoRelle, Jeffrey A, Li, Quan-Zhen, Mahimainathan, Lenin, Araj, Ellen, Markantonis, John, Lacelle, Chantale, Balani, Jyoti, Parikh, Hiren, Solow, E. Blair, Karp, David R, Sarode, Ravi, Muthukumar, Alagarraju
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objectives: Initial reports indicate adequate performance of some serology-based severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2) assays. However, additional studies are required to facilitate interpretation of results, including how antibody levels impact immunity and disease course. Methods: A total of 967 subjects were tested for IgG antibodies reactive to SARS-CoV-2, including 172 suspected cases of SARS-CoV-2, 656 plasma samples from healthy donors, 49 sera from patients with rheumatic disease, and 90 specimens from individuals positive for polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based respiratory viral panel. A subgroup of SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive cases was tested for IgM antibodies by proteome array method. Results: All specificity and cross-reactivity specimens were negative for SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies (0/795, 0%). Positive agreement of IgG with PCR was 83% of samples confirmed to be more than 14 days from symptom onset, with less than 100% sensitivity attributable to a case with severe immunosuppression. Virus-specific IgM was positive in a higher proportion of cases less than 3 days from symptom onset. No association was observed between mild and severe disease course with respect to IgG and IgM levels. Conclusions: The studied SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay had 100% specificity and no adverse cross-reactivity. Measures of IgG and IgM antibodies did not predict disease severity in our patient population. Key Words: Microbiology; Immunology; Global health; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Coronavirus
ISSN:0002-9173
DOI:10.1093/AJCP/AQAA123