Sera neutralizing activities against SARS-CoV-2 and multiple variants six month after hospitalization for COVID-19

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Abstract

Background

Humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 occurs within the first weeks after COVID-19. Those antibodies exert a neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2, whose evolution overtime after COVID-19 as well as efficiency against novel variants are however poorly characterized.

Methods

In this prospective study, sera of 107 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were collected at 3- and 6-months post-infection. We performed quantitative neutralization experiments on top of high-throughput serological assays evaluating anti-Spike (S) and anti-Nucleocapsid (NP) IgG.

Findings

Levels of sero-neutralization and IgG rates against the ancestral strain decreased significantly over time. After 6 months, 2.8% of the patients had a negative serological status for both anti-S and anti-NP IgG. However, all sera had a persistent and effective neutralizing effect against SARS-CoV-2. IgG levels correlated with sero-neutralization and this correlation was stronger for anti-S than for anti-NP antibodies. The level of sero-neutralization quantified at 6 months correlated with markers of initial severity, notably admission in intensive care units and the need for mechanical invasive ventilation. In addition, sera collected at 6 months were tested against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants and showed efficient neutralizing effects against D614G, B.1.1.7 and P.1 variants but a significantly weaker activity against B.1.351 variant.

Interpretation

Decrease of IgG rates and serological assays becoming negative did not imply loss of neutralizing capacity. Our results indicate a sustained humoral response against the ancestral strain and the D614G, B.1.1.7 and P.1 variants for at least 6 months in patients previously hospitalized for COVID-19. A weaker protection was however observed for the B.1.351 variant.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Clin Infect Dis

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Clin Infect Dis

Journal ID (publisher-id): cid

Title: Clinical Infectious Diseases: An Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America

Publisher: Oxford University Press (US )

ISSN (Print): 1058-4838

ISSN (Electronic): 1537-6591

Publication date (Electronic): 14 April 2021

Electronic Location Identifier: ciab308

Affiliations

[1 ] Université de Paris, INSERM, PARCC , F-75006 Paris, France

[2 ] CIC1418 and DMU CARTE, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou , F-75015, Paris, France

[3 ] Virus & Immunity Unit, Department of Virology, Institut Pasteur , CNRS UMR3569, Paris France

[4 ] Vaccine Research Institute, Faculté de Médecine, INSERM U955 , Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, France

[5 ] Laboratoire de Biochimie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, AP-HP , Paris, France

[6 ] Department of Immunology, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, AP-HP , Paris, France

[7 ] Service de Microbiologie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) , Paris 75015, France

[8 ] Institut Pasteur, Cellule d'Intervention Biologique d'Urgence , Paris, France

[9 ] Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department, Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, AP-HP , Paris, France

[10 ] Université de Paris, IAME, INSERM , F-75018 Paris, France

[11 ] AP-HP, Bichat Claude Bernard Hospital, Virology Department , 75018 Paris, France

[12 ] Functional Genomics of Solid Tumors (FunGeST), INSERM, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers , Université de Paris and Sorbonne Université, Paris, France

Author notes

Corresponding author: Prof Jean-Sébastien Hulot, PARCC, 56 Rue Leblanc, F-75015, Paris, France; Tel: +33 1 58 09 29 12; email: jean-sebastien.hulot@ 123456aphp.fr , Twitter handle @DrHulot_PARCC

M.B., M.L. and D.P. Contributed equally to this work

Author information

Jean-Sébastien Hulot https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5463-6117

Article

Publisher ID: ciab308

DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciab308

PMC ID: 8083257

PubMed ID: 33851216

SO-VID: b8a30923-960b-42da-bf63-6249bd9a1ef9

License:

This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic or until permissions are revoked in writing. Upon expiration of these permissions, PMC is granted a perpetual license to make this article available via PMC and Europe PMC, consistent with existing copyright protections.

This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model ( https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)

History

Date received : 13 January 2021

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edited-state accepted-manuscript

ScienceOpen disciplines: Infectious disease & Microbiology

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Infectious disease & Microbiology

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