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. 2022 Jun 29:10:883185.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.883185. eCollection 2022.

Cord Blood SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibodies and Their Association With Maternal Immunity and Neonatal Outcomes

Addy Cecilia Helguera-Repetto  1 , Isabel Villegas-Mota  2 , Guadalupe Itzel Arredondo-Pulido  1 , Jorge Arturo Cardona-Pérez  3 , Moises León-Juárez  1 , Maria Antonieta Rivera-Rueda  4 , Gabriela Arreola-Ramírez  5 , Paloma Mateu-Rogell  6 , Sandra Acevedo-Gallegos  7 , Gloria Elena López-Navarrete  5 , María Yolotzin Valdespino-Vázquez  8 , Guadalupe Martínez-Salazar  1 , Mario Rodríguez-Bosch  9 , Irma Alejandra Coronado-Zarco  10 , María Del Rosario Castillo-Gutiérrez  11 , Carlos Alberto Cuevas-Jiménez  11 , Elsa Romelia Moreno-Verduzco  12 , Salvador Espino-Y-Sosa  6 , Manuel Cortés-Bonilla  13 , Claudine Irles  14
Affiliations

Cord Blood SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibodies and Their Association With Maternal Immunity and Neonatal Outcomes

Addy Cecilia Helguera-Repetto et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Passive transplacental immunity is crucial for neonatal protection from infections. Data on the correlation between neonatal immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and protection from adverse outcomes is scarce. This work aimed to describe neonatal seropositivity in the context of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection, seropositivity, and neonatal outcomes. This retrospective nested case-control study enrolled high-risk pregnant women with a SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positive test who gave birth at the Instituto Nacional de Perinatología in Mexico City and their term neonates. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in maternal and cord blood samples were detected using a chemiluminescent assay. In total, 63 mother-neonate dyads (mean gestational age 38.4 weeks) were included. Transplacental transfer of SARS-CoV-2 IgG occurred in 76% of neonates from seropositive mothers. A positive association between maternal IgG levels and Cycle threshold (Ct) values of RT-qPCR test for SARS-CoV-2 with neonatal IgG levels was observed. Regarding neonatal outcomes, most seropositive neonates did not require any mechanical ventilation, and none developed any respiratory morbidity (either in the COVID-19 positive or negative groups) compared to 7 seronegative neonates. Furthermore, the odds of neonatal respiratory morbidity exhibited a tendency to decrease when neonatal IgG levels increase. These results add further evidence suggesting passive IgG transfer importance.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2 antibodies; newborn; pregnancy; seropositivity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pregnant women and neonates included in the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
T Correlation between cord blood seropositivity and maternal seropositivity (A) or cord blood seropositivity and maternal Ct values at delivery (B). Scatterplots show the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels as an index value based on the ratio of sample absorbance to the absorbance of an assay-specific calibrator or control (S/C) units at the time of delivery. (R = 0.851, P <0.0001 and R = 0.228, P = 0.075, for a and b, respectively; Pearson Correlation).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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