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. 2023 Jul;118(7):517-522.
doi: 10.1111/vox.13439. Epub 2023 May 16.

Antiphospholipid antibodies in convalescent plasma of donors recovered from mild COVID-19 infection

Dorit Blickstein  1 , Marina Izak  2 , Talia Filipovich-Rimon  3 , Osnat Garach-Jehoshua  3 , Naomi Rahimi-Levene  4 , Eilat Shinar  2 , Ramzia Abu Hamad  5 , Adina Bar-Chaim  6 , Maya Koren-Michowitz  1   7
Affiliations

Antiphospholipid antibodies in convalescent plasma of donors recovered from mild COVID-19 infection

Dorit Blickstein et al. Vox Sang. 2023 Jul.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Passive immunization by the infusion of convalescent plasma (CP) obtained from patients who have recently recovered from COVID-19, thus having antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, is a potential strategy to reduce the severity of illness. A high prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies (APLA) in patients with COVID-19 has been reported during the pandemic, raising a concern whether the use of CP could increase the risk of thrombosis in transfused patients. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of APLA in COVID-19 CP (CCP) in order to assess the potential prothrombotic influence of transfused CCP to COVID-19 patients.

Materials and methods: We studied the prevalence of APLA in 122 CCP samples collected from healthy donors who recovered from mild-COVID-19 at two time periods: September 2020-January 2021 (defined as 'early period' samples) and April-May 2021 (defined as 'late period' samples). Thirty-four healthy subjects unexposed to COVID-19 were used as controls.

Results: APLA were present in 7 of 122 (6%) CCP samples. One donor had anti-β2-glycoprotein 1(anti-β2GP1) IgG, one had anti-β2GP1 IgM and five had lupus anticoagulant (LAC) using silica clotting time (SCT), all in 'late period' donors. In the control group, one subject had anti-β2GP1 IgG, two had LAC using dilute Russell viper venom time (dRVVT) and four had LAC SCT (both LAC SCT and LAC dRVVT in one subject).

Conclusion: The low prevalence of APLA in CCP donors reassures the safety of CCP administration to patients with severe COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; anti-N antibodies; anti-S antibodies; antiphospholipid antibodies; convalescent plasma.

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