A high-throughput liquid bead array assay confirms strong correlation between SARS-CoV-2 antibody level and COVID-19 severity

• Published in: iScience Vol. 24; no. 2; p. 102052
• Main Authors: Bennett, Monique, Yoder, Sandra, Brady, Eric, Pulley, Jill M., Rhoads, Jillian P., Stewart, Thomas G., Bernard, Gordon R., Creech, C. Buddy, Wheeler, Allison P., Thomsen, Isaac
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 19-02-2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Microbiology; Viral Microbiology; Virology; Biological Sciences; Viral Microbiology; Microbiology; Virology
• ISSN: 2589-0042; 2589-0042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102052

A detailed understanding of the adaptive host response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans is urgently needed. We developed a sensitive, high-throughput, and efficient assay using liquid bead array technology. We observed advantages over traditional ELISA for the detection and quantification of binding IgG against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2. To determine whether COVID-19 symptom severity correlates with SARS-CoV-2 IgG, we measured anti-RBD IgG levels from 67 subjects recovered from PCR-confirmed COVID-19. We found that COVID-19 symptom severity strongly correlated with RBD IgG level (p < 0.001). These findings have substantial implications for public policy surrounding assessments of antibody responses and possible immunity, as not all cases of COVID-19 can be assumed to generate a protective antibody response, and mild disease in particular is capable of generating very low-level anti-RBD IgG levels. These findings also have important implications for the selection of donors for convalescent plasma to be used therapeutically.
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•We developed a sensitive, high-throughput assay for quantification of SARS-CoV-2 IgG•The assay uses liquid bead array technology for efficient and reproducible results•COVID-19 symptom severity was strongly correlated with SARS-CoV-2 SRBD IgG levels
Biological Sciences; Microbiology; Virology; Viral Microbiology