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J Infect Dis
. 2022 Jan 29;jiac022.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiac022. Online ahead of print.
IgG Against Human β-Coronavirus Spike Proteins Correlates with SARS-CoV-2 anti-Spike IgG Responses and COVID-19 Disease Severity
Jiong Wang 1 , Dongmei Li 2 , Andrew Cameron 3 , Qian Zhou 1 , Alexander Wiltse 1 4 , Jennifer Nayak 5 , Nicole D Pecora 3 6 , Martin S Zand 1 2
Affiliations
- PMID: 35091739
- DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiac022
Abstract
Background: A protective SARS-COV-2 (SARS2) antibody response is crucial to decrease morbidity and mortality from severe COVID-19 disease and for vaccine efficacy. The effects of pre-existing anti-human coronavirus (HCoV) antibodies on the SARS2-specific IgG responses and severity of disease are currently unclear.
Methods: We profiled anti-spike (S), S1, S2, RBD IgG antibodies against SARS2 and six HCoVs using a multiplex assay (mPLEX-CoV) with serum samples from SARS2 infection (155 patients) and pre-COVID-19 (188 subjects) cohorts.
Results: Anti-S SARS2 IgG levels were significantly increased and highly correlated with IgG antibodies that recognized OC43 and HKU1 S proteins in COVID-19 patients. However, OC43 and HKU1 anti-S antibodies in sera collected pre-COVID-19 did not cross-react to SARS2 S. Moreover, these "uni-directional" cross-reactive antibodies elicited by the SARS2 infection were distinct from the "bi-directional" cross-reactive antibodies that recognized the homologous antigen strains, RaTG13 and SARS-CoV-1 (SARS1). Notably, high OC43 and anti-S2 antibodies were associated with a rapid and robust anti-SARS2 antibody response and increased disease severity. In addition, a higher ratio of S2/S1-reactive antibodies developed over time in severe ICU patients.
Conclusions: Our study suggested that early and rapid OC43 S- and S2-reactive antibodies emerging after SARS2 infection may correlate with COVID-19 disease severity.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; common cold human coronaviruses (HCoVs); cross-reactive antibody response; immune imprinting.