High Levels of Common Cold Coronavirus Antibodies in Convalescent Plasma Are Associated With Improved Survival in COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

BackgroundCOVID-19 Convalescent plasma (CCP) is safe and effective, particularly if given at an early stage of the disease. Our study aimed to identify an association between survival and specific antibodies found in CCP.Patients and MethodsPatients ≥18 years of age who were hospitalized with moderate to severe COVID-19 infection and received CCP at the MD Anderson Cancer Center between 4/30/2020 and 8/20/2020 were included in the study. We quantified the levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, as well as antibodies against antigens of other coronavirus strains, in the CCP units and compared antibody levels with patient outcomes. For each antibody, a Bayesian exponential survival time regression model including prognostic variables was fit, and the posterior probability of a beneficial effect (PBE) of higher antibody level on survival time was computed.ResultsCCP was administered to 44 cancer patients. The median age was 60 years (range 37-84) and 19 (43%) were female. Twelve patients (27%) died of COVID-19-related complications. Higher levels of two non-SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies, anti-HCoV-OC43 spike IgG and anti-HCoV-HKU1 spike IgG, had PBE = 1.00, and 4 SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies had PBEs between 0.90 and 0.95. Other factors associated with better survival were shorter time to CCP administration, younger age, and female sex.ConclusionsCommon cold coronavirus spike IgG antibodies anti-HCoV-OC43 and anti-HCoV-HKU1 may target a common domain for SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses. They provide a promising therapeutic target for monoclonal antibody production.

COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Is More than Neutralizing Antibodies: A Narrative Review of Potential Beneficial and Detrimental Co-Factors

“…These findings may also imply convalescent plasma collections (e.g., CCP units with greater NL63 antibody responses and lower HKU1 antibodies) had higher neutralizing antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) [38]. Another study found better outcomes in recipients of CCP units with higher anti-NL63 or anti-OC43 antibodies [39]; Influenza virus A(H 3 N 2 ): Antibody binding to an epitope region from SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid, termed Ep9, is associated with greater COVID-19 disease severity [40]. Bioinformatics analysis identified the neuraminidase protein (not present in the influenza vaccine) of influenza virus A(H3N2) as responsible, a strain that circulated widely in 2014 [41]; Acute malaria infection: Plasmodium infection induces cross-reactive antibodies to carbohydrate epitopes on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein [42]; Natural ABO isoagglutinins: The ABO blood group affects COVID-19 incidence and severity, as well as the type and duration of the cellular immune response [43].…”

SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine induces robust specific and cross-reactive IgG and unequal neutralizing antibodies in naive and previously infected people

“…Induction of cross-reactive HCoV antibodies has been reported in SARS-CoV-2 infection, and after vaccination (Ro ¨ltgen et al, 2021). While their role in protection or immunopathogenesis remains unclear (Anderson et al, 2021;Greenbaum et al, 2021), levels of HCoV cross-reactive antibodies correlate with disease severity (Wang et al, 2021a). The emergence of new, increasingly infectious and virulent SARS-CoV-2 variants is causing significant concern in global human health.…”

Durable tracking anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in cancer patients recovered from COVID-19

“…It has been reported that SARS-CoV-2 could undergo evolution during the treatment of chronic infection 13 – 16 . Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies are important for the immunity of the cancer patients 7 , 8 . In this study, we found that the anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies decayed fast in the patients without chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which is consistent with the previous finding in the general population 10 – 12 .…”

“…Cancer patients usually have weakened immune system and autoreactive responses 4 , and were reported to be more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and have higher mortality rate compared with regular COVID-19 patients 5 , 6 . Therefore, cancer patients should be monitored more carefully during the treatment 5 , and the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies are important as they improve the immunity of patients 7 , 8 .Previous studies suggested the memory B cells (MBCs) against SARS-CoV-2 could be enriched for up for six months in the general convalescent patients 9 , while levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody rapidly declined as early as three months after infection 10 – 12 . So far, to our knowledge, the duration of the antibodies in cancer patients has not been well established.…”