Dynamics of Neutralizing Antibody Titers in the Months After Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection
Open Access
- 14 January 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in The Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Vol. 223 (2), 197-205
- https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaa618
Abstract
Most individuals infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) develop neutralizing antibodies that target the viral spike protein. In this study, we quantified how levels of these antibodies change in the months after SARS-CoV-2 infection by examining longitudinal samples collected approximately 30-152 days after symptom onset from a prospective cohort of 32 recovered individuals with asymptomatic, mild, or moderate-severe disease. Neutralizing antibody titers declined an average of about 4-fold from 1 to 4 months after symptom onset. This decline in neutralizing antibody titers was accompanied by a decline in total antibodies capable of binding the viral spike protein or its receptor-binding domain. Importantly, our data are consistent with the expected early immune response to viral infection, where an initial peak in antibody levels is followed by a decline to a lower plateau. Additional studies of long-lived B cells and antibody titers over longer time frames are necessary to determine the durability of immunity to SARS-CoV-2.Funding Information
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI141707, F30AI149928)
- National Institutes of Health
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1156262)
- Burroughs Wellcome Fund
This publication has 43 references indexed in Scilit:
- MERS-CoV Antibody Responses 1 Year after Symptom Onset, South Korea, 2015Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2017
- Somatically Hypermutated Plasmodium-Specific IgM+ Memory B Cells Are Rapid, Plastic, Early Responders upon Malaria RechallengeImmunity, 2016
- Impaired Antibody-mediated Protection and Defective IgA B-Cell Memory in Experimental Infection of Adults with Respiratory Syncytial VirusAmerican Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2015
- Origin and Function of Circulating Plasmablasts during Acute Viral InfectionsFrontiers in Immunology, 2012
- Antibody Dynamics of 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Virus in Infected Patients and Vaccinated People in ChinaPLOS ONE, 2011
- Research electronic data capture (REDCap)—A metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics supportJournal of Biomedical Informatics, 2008
- Duration of Humoral Immunity to Common Viral and Vaccine AntigensThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2007
- Neutralizing Antibody Response and SARS SeverityEmerging Infectious Diseases, 2005
- Longitudinally Profiling Neutralizing Antibody Response to SARS Coronavirus with PseudotypesEmerging Infectious Diseases, 2005
- The time course of the immune response to experimental coronavirus infection of manEpidemiology and Infection, 1990