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. 2022 Oct:155:105268.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2022.105268. Epub 2022 Aug 17.

Evaluation of a rapid semiquantitative lateral flow assay for the prediction of serum neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants

Mickael Hirabidian  1 , Laurence Bocket  1 , Julie Demaret  2 , Fanny Vuotto  3 , Anthony Rabat  1 , Karine Faure  3 , Myriam Labalette  2 , Didier Hober  1 , Guillaume Lefevre  2 , Enagnon Kazali Alidjinou  4
Affiliations

Evaluation of a rapid semiquantitative lateral flow assay for the prediction of serum neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants

Mickael Hirabidian et al. J Clin Virol. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against SARS-CoV-2 have been shown to correlate with protection against infection. Simple tools such as lateral flow assays (LFA) that can accurately measure NAbs may be useful for monitoring anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunity in the future.

Objectives: We assessed the performance of the ichroma™ COVID-19 nAb test, a rapid semiquantitative LFA, for the prediction of serum neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Study design: Serum samples were collected from COVID-19 recovered patients and vaccinated individuals. The result of the ichroma assay was provided as inhibition rate, and was compared to anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels, and NAbs against Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants.

Results: A total of 90 sera from recovered unvaccinated patients and 209 sera from the vaccine cohort were included in this study. In post-infection samples, the ichroma inhbition rate was found to be correlated with IgG levels (ρ = 0.83), and with anti-Alpha NAbs levels (ρ = 0.78). In the vaccine cohort, a good correlation was also observed between the ichroma inhibition rate and IgG levels (ρ = 0.84), as well as NAbs against Alpha (ρ = 0.62), Delta (ρ = 0.88) and Omicron (ρ = 0.74). An ichroma inhbition rate of 77.2%, 90.8% and 99.6% accurately predicted neutralization against Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants respectively.

Conclusions: The ichroma™ COVID-19 nAb assay, with appropriate variant cut-offs, can be useful for the monitoring of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunization and may provide a rapid prediction of protection, especially in individuals with significant levels of NAbs.

Keywords: Lateral flow assay; Neutralizing antibodies; SARS-CoV-2; Variants.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
Performance of the ichroma™ COVID-19 nAb assay in post-infection samples from unvaccinated individuals Sera from COVID-19 recovered patients were tested using ichroma assay, LIAISON assay and neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant. The correlations between ichroma result and IgG levels (a), and neutralizing antibodies levels (b) were represented. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (ρ) is shown. ROC analysis was performed to determine the cut-off of the ichroma inhibition rate that predict serum neutralizing activity (c).
Fig 2
Fig. 2
Performance of the ichroma™ COVID-19 nAb assay in vaccinated individuals Sera from COVID-19 vaccinated individuals were tested using ichroma assay, LIAISON assay and neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants. The correlations between ichroma result and IgG levels (a), and neutralizing antibodies levels (b-d) were represented. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (ρ) is shown. ROC analysis was performed to determine the cut-off of the ichroma inhibition rate that predict neutralization against each variant (e-g).
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