tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
One Health
. 2021 Dec;13:100313.
doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100313. Epub 2021 Aug 21.
Evaluation of a multi-species SARS-CoV-2 surrogate virus neutralization test
Carmen W E Embregts[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Babs Verstrepen[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jan A M Langermans[SUP] 2 3 [/SUP], Kinga P Böszörményi[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Reina S Sikkema[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rory D de Vries[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Donata Hoffmann[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Kerstin Wernike[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Lidwien A M Smit[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Shan Zhao[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Barry Rockx[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marion P G Koopmans[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Bart L Haagmans[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Thijs Kuiken[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Corine H GeurtsvanKessel[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Assays to measure SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralizing antibodies are important to monitor seroprevalence, to study asymptomatic infections and to reveal (intermediate) hosts. A recently developed assay, the surrogate virus-neutralization test (sVNT) is a quick and commercially available alternative to the "gold standard" virus neutralization assay using authentic virus, and does not require processing at BSL-3 level. The assay relies on the inhibition of binding of the receptor binding domain (RBD) on the spike (S) protein to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) by antibodies present in sera. As the sVNT does not require species- or isotype-specific conjugates, it can be similarly used for antibody detection in human and animal sera. In this study, we used 298 sera from PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients and 151 sera from patients confirmed with other coronavirus or other (respiratory) infections, to evaluate the performance of the sVNT. To analyze the use of the assay in a One Health setting, we studied the presence of RBD-binding antibodies in 154 sera from nine animal species (cynomolgus and rhesus macaques, ferrets, rabbits, hamsters, cats, cattle, mink and dromedary camels). The sVNT showed a moderate to high sensitivity and a high specificity using sera from confirmed COVID-19 patients (91.3% and 100%, respectively) and animal sera (93.9% and 100%), however it lacked sensitivity to detect low titers. Significant correlations were found between the sVNT outcomes and PRNT[SUB]50[/SUB] and the Wantai total Ig and IgM ELISAs. While species-specific validation will be essential, our results show that the sVNT holds promise in detecting RBD-binding antibodies in multiple species.
Keywords: Animal sera; Neutralizing antibodies; SARS-CoV-2; Serology; Surrogate virus neutralization test.
. 2021 Dec;13:100313.
doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100313. Epub 2021 Aug 21.
Evaluation of a multi-species SARS-CoV-2 surrogate virus neutralization test
Carmen W E Embregts[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Babs Verstrepen[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jan A M Langermans[SUP] 2 3 [/SUP], Kinga P Böszörményi[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Reina S Sikkema[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rory D de Vries[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Donata Hoffmann[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Kerstin Wernike[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Lidwien A M Smit[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Shan Zhao[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Barry Rockx[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marion P G Koopmans[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Bart L Haagmans[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Thijs Kuiken[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Corine H GeurtsvanKessel[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 34458548
- PMCID: PMC8378998
- DOI: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100313
Abstract
Assays to measure SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralizing antibodies are important to monitor seroprevalence, to study asymptomatic infections and to reveal (intermediate) hosts. A recently developed assay, the surrogate virus-neutralization test (sVNT) is a quick and commercially available alternative to the "gold standard" virus neutralization assay using authentic virus, and does not require processing at BSL-3 level. The assay relies on the inhibition of binding of the receptor binding domain (RBD) on the spike (S) protein to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) by antibodies present in sera. As the sVNT does not require species- or isotype-specific conjugates, it can be similarly used for antibody detection in human and animal sera. In this study, we used 298 sera from PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients and 151 sera from patients confirmed with other coronavirus or other (respiratory) infections, to evaluate the performance of the sVNT. To analyze the use of the assay in a One Health setting, we studied the presence of RBD-binding antibodies in 154 sera from nine animal species (cynomolgus and rhesus macaques, ferrets, rabbits, hamsters, cats, cattle, mink and dromedary camels). The sVNT showed a moderate to high sensitivity and a high specificity using sera from confirmed COVID-19 patients (91.3% and 100%, respectively) and animal sera (93.9% and 100%), however it lacked sensitivity to detect low titers. Significant correlations were found between the sVNT outcomes and PRNT[SUB]50[/SUB] and the Wantai total Ig and IgM ELISAs. While species-specific validation will be essential, our results show that the sVNT holds promise in detecting RBD-binding antibodies in multiple species.
Keywords: Animal sera; Neutralizing antibodies; SARS-CoV-2; Serology; Surrogate virus neutralization test.