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J Med Virol
. 2021 Feb 23.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.26899. Online ahead of print.
Antibody response patterns in COVID-19 patients with different levels of disease severity-Japan
Kazuo Imai 1 2 3 , Yutaro Kitagawa 4 , Sakiko Tabata 3 , Katsumi Kubota 4 , Mayu Nagura-Ikeda 3 , Masaru Matsuoka 4 , Kazuyasu Miyoshi 3 , Jun Sakai 1 2 , Noriomi Ishibashi 1 2 , Norihito Tarumoto 1 2 , Shinichi Takeuchi 4 , Toshimitsu Ito 1 , Shigefumi Maesaki 1 2 , Kaku Tamura 3 , Takuya Maeda 2 4
Affiliations
- PMID: 33620098
- DOI: 10.1002/jmv.26899
Abstract
Background: We analyzed antibody response patterns according to level of disease severity in patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Japan.
Methods: We analyzed 611 serum specimens from 231 patients with COVID-19 (mild, 170; severe, 31; critical, 30). IgM and IgG antibodies against nucleocapsid protein (N) and spike 1 protein (S1) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.
Findings: The peaks of fitting curves for the optical density (OD) values of IgM and IgG antibodies against N appeared simultaneously, while those against S1 were delayed compared with N. The OD values of IgM against N and IgG against both N and S1 were significantly higher in the severe and critical cases than in the mild cases at 11 days after symptom onset. The seroconversion rates of IgG were higher than those of IgM against both N and S1 during the clinical course based on the optimal cutoff values defined in this study. The seroconversion rates of IgG and IgM against N and S1 were higher in the severe and critical cases than in the mild cases.
Conclusion: Our findings show that a stronger antibody response occurred in COVID-19 patients with greater disease severity and there were low seroconversion rates of antibodies against N and S1 in the mild cases. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Keywords: COVID-19; ELISA; Japan; SARS-CoV-2; antibody.