Characterization of neutralizing versus binding antibodies and memory B cells in COVID-19 recovered individuals from India

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Kaustuv Nayak, ICGEB-Emory Vaccine Center, India; Kamalvishnu Gottimukkala, ICGEB-Emory Vaccine Center, India; Sanjeev Kumar, ICGEB-Emory Vaccine Center, India; Elluri Seetharami Reddy, ICGEB-Emory Vaccine Center, India; Venkata Viswanadh Edara, Emory University; Robert Kauffman, Emory University; Katherine Floyd, Emory University; Grace Mantus, Emory University; Deepali Savargaonkar, ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research, India; Pawan Kumar Goel, Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewat Govt Med Coll; Satyam Arora, Super Special Pediat Hosp & Post Grad Teaching In; Manju Rahi, Indian Council of Medical Research; Carl Davis, Emory University; Susanne Linderman, Emory University; Jens Wrammert, Emory University; Mehul Suthar, Emory University; Rafi Ahmed, Emory University; Amit Sharma, ICMR Natl Inst Malaria Res; Murali Kaja, Emory University; Anmol Chandele, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-03-08
• Publisher: ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 Elsevier Inc.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2021.02.002
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: VIROLOGY
• Volume: 558
• Start Page: 13
• End Page: 21
• Grant/Funding Information: This research was supported in part by Indian Council of Medical Research VIR/COVID-19/02/2020/ECD-1 (A.C, K.M). K.N, E.S.R. are supported through Dengue Translational Research Consortia National Biopharma Mission BT/NBM099/02/18(A.C.); K.G. is supported through DBT grant BT/PR30260/MED/15/194/2018(A.C, K.M); S.K. is supported through DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Early Career Fellowship grant IA/E/18/1/504307.
• Keywords: Memory B cells; Science & Technology; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; India; Virology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Receptor binding domain; CONVALESCENT PLASMA; Neutralizing antibodies
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

India is one of the most affected countries by COVID-19 pandemic; but little is understood regarding immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in this region. Herein we examined SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies, IgG, IgM, IgA and memory B cells in COVID-19 recovered individual from India. While a vast majority of COVID-19 recovered individuals showed SARS-CoV-2 RBD-specific IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies (38/42, 90.47%; 21/42, 50%; 33/42, 78.57% respectively), only half of them had appreciable neutralizing antibody titers. RBD-specific IgG, but not IgA or IgM titers, correlated with neutralizing antibody titers and RBD-specific memory B cell frequencies. These findings have timely significance for identifying potential donors for plasma therapy using RBD-specific IgG assays as surrogate measurement for neutralizing antibodies in India. Further, this study provides useful information needed for designing large-scale studies towards understanding of inter-individual variation in immune memory to SARS CoV-2 natural infection for future vaccine evaluation and implementation efforts.