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. 2021 Jul 2;16(7):e0253977.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253977. eCollection 2021.

Characterization of antibody response in asymptomatic and symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection

Serena Marchi  1 , Simonetta Viviani  1 , Edmond J Remarque  2 , Antonella Ruello  3 , Emilio Bombardieri  3 , Valentina Bollati  4 , Gregorio P Milani  4   5 , Alessandro Manenti  6   7 , Giulia Lapini  6 , Annunziata Rebuffat  8 , Emanuele Montomoli  1   6   7 , Claudia M Trombetta  1
Affiliations

Characterization of antibody response in asymptomatic and symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection

Serena Marchi et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is causing high morbidity and mortality burden worldwide with unprecedented strain on health care systems. To investigate the time course of the antibody response in relation to the outcome we performed a study in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. As comparison we also investigated the time course of the antibody response in SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic subjects. Study results show that patients produce a strong antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 with high correlation between different viral antigens (spike protein and nucleoprotein) and among antibody classes (IgA, IgG, and IgM and neutralizing antibodies). The antibody peak is reached by 3 weeks from hospital admission followed by a sharp decrease. No difference was observed in any parameter of the antibody classes, including neutralizing antibodies, between subjects who recovered or with fatal outcome. Only few asymptomatic subjects developed antibodies at detectable levels.

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Conflict of interest statement

We have the following interests: This study was funded by a research grant (Pfizer Tracking Number 60353289). Authors AM and GL are employed by VisMederi srl. EM is the Chief Scientific Officer of VisMederi srl and VisMederi Research srl. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. S1 IgM titres in COVID-19 patients (recovered and deceased) and asymptomatic subjects.
Black dashed line indicates positivity threshold at 12 U/ml.
Fig 2
Fig 2. S1 IgA titres in COVID-19 patients (recovered and deceased) and asymptomatic subjects.
Black dashed line indicates positivity threshold at 12 U/ml.
Fig 3
Fig 3. S1 IgG titres in COVID-19 patients (recovered and deceased) and asymptomatic subjects.
Black dashed line indicates positivity threshold at 12 U/ml.
Fig 4
Fig 4. NP IgG titres in COVID-19 patients (recovered and deceased) and asymptomatic subjects.
Black dashed line indicates positivity threshold at 12 U/ml.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Neutralizing antibody (NAb) titres in COVID-19 patients (recovered and deceased) and asymptomatic subjects.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Correlations between antibody for COVID-19 patients.
Titres are shown as log-2 transformed.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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