Cross-reactive immunity against SARS-CoV-2 N protein in Central and West Africa precedes the COVID-19 pandemic

Pedersen, Jannie; Koumakpayi, Ismaël Hervé; Babuadze, Giorgi; Baz, Mariana; Ndiaye, Oumar; Faye, Oumar; Diagne, Cheikh Tidiane; Dia, Ndongo; Naghibosadat, Maedeh; McGeer, Allison; Muberaka, Samira; Moukandja, Irène P.; Ndidi, Stella; Tauil, Carlos Bernardo; Lékana-Douki, Jean-Bernard; Loucoubar, Cheikh; Faye, Ousmane; Sall, Amadou Alpha; Magalhães, Kelly Grace; Weis, Nina; Kozak, Robert; Kobinger, Gary P.; Fausther-Bovendo, Hugues

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-17241-9

Cited by 24 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Our antibody data suggests pre-existing coronavirus immunity with 10.4% (14/134) of HCWs and 20% (23/115) of individuals in the general population who only had SARS-CoV-2 N antibodies prior to vaccination. These results recapitulate other studies highlighting a similar phenomenon (11,18,26). SARS-CoV-2 N seropositivity could suggest undocumented infections with other as yet unrecognized coronaviruses, including animal coronaviruses.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

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High SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Lagos, Nigeria with robust antibody and cellular responses

Akanmu

Herrera

Chaplin

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background Early evidence suggested that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was less severe in Africa compared to other parts of the world. However, more recent studies indicate higher SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 mortality rates on the continent than previously documented. Research is needed to better understand SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and immunity in Africa. Methods Our collaboration with the Lagos State COVID-19 Taskforce, enabled secondary analyses of immune responses in healthcare workers (HCWs) and Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine recipients from the general population across 5 local government areas (LGAs) in Lagos State, Nigeria. Western blots were used to simultaneously detect SARS-CoV-2 spike and nucleocapsid (N) antibodies and stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with N followed by an IFN-γ ELISA was used to examine T cell responses. Findings Antibody data demonstrated high SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence of 71.6% (96/134) in HCWs and 54.8% (63/115) in the general population. Antibodies directed to only SARS-CoV-2 N, suggesting pre-existing coronavirus immunity, were seen in 10.4% (14/134) of HCWs and 20.0% (23/115) of the general population. T cell data showed that IFN-γ responses against SARS-CoV-2 N were robust in detecting exposure to the virus, demonstrating 87.5% sensitivity and 92.3% specificity. Interpretation These results have important implications for understanding the paradoxical high SARS-CoV-2 infection with low mortality rate in Africa as compared to other parts of the world, as well as for the development of T cell-based diagnostics and vaccines.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The vast majority of antibody studies have utilized ELISA assays to recombinant SARS CoV-2 antigens. Multiple studies now indicate reduced specificity of these assays when analyzing samples originating from sub-Saharan Africa (11,18). Of note, our study employed virion based immunoblot which All rights reserved.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Lagos, Nigeria with robust antibody and cellular responses

Akanmu

Herrera

Chaplin

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…Specific antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 proteins in sera collected in sub-Saharan African regions before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in China have already been reported by other studies, with higher serological cross-reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 in sub-Saharan African regions than elsewhere [ 21 , 22 ], and sometimes attributed to higher exposure to human seasonal coronaviruses (HCoVs) in these regions [ 23 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Pre-Pandemic Cross-Reactive Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 among Central and West African Populations

Souris

Tshilolo

Parzy³

et al. 2022

Viruses

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For more than two years after the emergence of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-2019), significant regional differences in morbidity persist. These differences clearly show lower incidence rates in several regions of the African and Asian continents. The work reported here aimed to test the hypothesis of a pre-pandemic natural immunity acquired by some human populations in central and western Africa, which would, therefore, pose the hypothesis of an original antigenic sin with a virus antigenically close to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). To identify such pre-existing immunity, sera samples collected before the emergence of COVID-19 were tested to detect the presence of IgG reacting antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 proteins of major significance. Sera samples from French blood donors collected before the pandemic served as a control. The results showed a statistically significant difference of antibodies prevalence between the collected samples in Africa and the control samples collected in France. Given the novelty of our results, our next step consists in highlighting neutralizing antibodies to evaluate their potential for pre-pandemic protective acquired immunity against SARS-CoV-2. In conclusion, our results suggest that, in the investigated African sub-regions, the tested populations could have been potentially and partially pre-exposed, before the COVID-19 pandemic, to the antigens of a yet non-identified Coronaviruses.

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“…After screening 38 studies (Figure 1) and excluding 16 (Supplementary references), 22 studies were eligible (18 retrieved from the main search and another 4 retrieved from cited/citation searches). 3-14, 22-31 19 studies were published in peer-reviewed journals and 3 were preprints. Other studies screened in-depth and excluded are shown in Supplementary References along with the reason for exclusion.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Impetus for this hypothesis has been provided by several studies documenting humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in African samples that predate the pandemic years. 3-12 This pattern has typically not been seen in populations from highly developed countries and its provenance remains elusive. This detected immunity does not seem to represent cross-reactivity of immune responses to known endemic coronaviruses that are extremely widely, practically ubiquitously, distributed across all continents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-pandemic cross-reactive humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis

Ioannidis

Contopoulos‐Ioannidis

2022

Preprint

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Background: Low numbers of recorded COVID-19 deaths in Africa may be due to undercounting and/or protection due to demographic and/or other factors, including pre-existing immunity. Several studies have assessed pre-pandemic samples for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with heterogeneous results. Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies evaluating pre-pandemic African samples for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody activity using pre-set assay-specific thresholds for seropositivity. Data where assay thresholds were calibrated on African populations were excluded. Searches used PubMed (September 13, 2022), reference lists of retrieved papers and citing articles (Google Scholar). Data were extracted independently by two authors on study and assay characteristics, and number of positive and tested samples. Datasets were classified according to malaria, dengue, and HIV burden. Proportions of seropositivity were combined with random effects meta-analysis. Results: 22 articles with 117 datasets were eligible, including 2,971 positives among 21,988 measurements (13.5%) with large between-dataset heterogeneity. Positivity was higher for anti-S1 (25%) and lower for anti-RBD antibodies (8%). Positivity was non-significantly higher for IgM than for IgG antibodies. Positivity was seen prominently in countries where malaria transmission occurs throughout and in datasets enriched in malaria cases (17%, 95% CI, 15-19%) versus 1%, 95% CI 0-2% in other datasets). There were modest differences according to dengue burden (15% versus 11%). Substantial SARS-CoV-2 reactivity was seen in high malaria burden with or without high dengue burden (seropositivity 19% and 12%, respectively), and not without high malaria burden (seropositivity 2% and 0% with and without high dengue burden, respectively). There were modestly lower proportions of positivity in datasets with >10% of HIV-infected participants (8% versus 15% in others), but no association according to HIV serostatus in individual samples (summary odds ratio 0.97, 95% CI, 0.55-1.70). Interpretation: Pre-pandemic samples from Africa show high levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity that tracks especially with malaria.

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Cross-reactive immunity against SARS-CoV-2 N protein in Central and West Africa precedes the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 24 publications

References 28 publications

High SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Lagos, Nigeria with robust antibody and cellular responses

High SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Lagos, Nigeria with robust antibody and cellular responses

Pre-Pandemic Cross-Reactive Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 among Central and West African Populations

Pre-pandemic cross-reactive humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis

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