Persistence of serum and saliva antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 spike antigens in COVID-19 patients

B Isho, KT Abe, M Zuo, AJ Jamal, B Rathod… - Science …, 2020 - science.org
B Isho, KT Abe, M Zuo, AJ Jamal, B Rathod, JH Wang, Z Li, G Chao, OL Rojas, YM Bang…
Science immunology, 2020science.org
While the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 has been extensively studied in blood,
relatively little is known about the antibody response in saliva and its relationship to systemic
antibody levels. Here, we profiled by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) IgG,
IgA and IgM responses to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (full length trimer) and its receptor-
binding domain (RBD) in serum and saliva of acute and convalescent patients with
laboratory-diagnosed COVID-19 ranging from 3–115 days post-symptom onset (PSO) …
While the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 has been extensively studied in blood, relatively little is known about the antibody response in saliva and its relationship to systemic antibody levels. Here, we profiled by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) IgG, IgA and IgM responses to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (full length trimer) and its receptor-binding domain (RBD) in serum and saliva of acute and convalescent patients with laboratory-diagnosed COVID-19 ranging from 3–115 days post-symptom onset (PSO), compared to negative controls. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses were readily detected in serum and saliva, with peak IgG levels attained by 16–30 days PSO. Longitudinal analysis revealed that anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA and IgM antibodies rapidly decayed, while IgG antibodies remained relatively stable up to 105 days PSO in both biofluids. Lastly, IgG, IgM and to a lesser extent IgA responses to spike and RBD in the serum positively correlated with matched saliva samples. This study confirms that serum and saliva IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 are maintained in the majority of COVID-19 patients for at least 3 months PSO. IgG responses in saliva may serve as a surrogate measure of systemic immunity to SARS-CoV-2 based on their correlation with serum IgG responses.
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