Comprehensive Serological Profile and Specificity of Maternal and Neonatal Cord Blood SARS CoV-2 Antibodies.
Publication/Presentation Date
12-7-2021
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To describe the profile and specificity of maternal and neonatal cord-blood antibody profile in response SARS-CoV-2 virus exposure.
METHODS: This is a Prospective cohort study of delivering patients at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital from April 2020-February 2021. Primary objective was to describe unique maternal and fetal antibody epitope titers and specificity in those patients with COVID-19 history. Serologic profile assessed with a multiplex platform. Antigens used were: HA-trimer Influenza A (Hong Kong H3), spike trimers for SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, and betacoronaviruses HKU-1 and OC43, as well as the spike N-terminal domain (NTD), spike receptor binding domain (RBD), and nucleocapsid protein (N; full length) for SARS-CoV-2.
RESULTS: 112 maternal samples and 101 maternal and cord blood pairs were analyzed. Thirty-seven had a known history of COVID-19 (positive PCR test) in the pregnancy and of those, 17 (47%) were diagnosed with COVID-19 within 30 days of delivery. Fifteen of remaining seventy-six (20%) without a known diagnosis had positive maternal serology. For those with history of COVID-19 we identified robust IgG response in maternal blood to CoV2 nucleocapsid (N), spike (S) full-length and S (RBD) antigens with more modest responses to the S (NTD) antigen. By contrast, the maternal blood IgM response appeared more specific to S (full-length), than N, S (RBD) or S (NTD) epitopes. There were significantly higher maternal and cord blood IgG response not just to CoV2 spike (p < 10
CONCLUSIONS: Placental transfer is efficient, with robust N and S responses. Both nucleocapsid and spike antibody responses should be studied for a better understanding of COVID-19 immunity. IgG antibodies are cross reactive with related CoV-1 and MERS spike epitopes while IgM, which cannot cross placenta to provide neonatal passive immunity, is more SARS CoV-2 specific. Neonatal cord blood may have significantly different fine-specificity than maternal blood, despite the high efficiency of IgG transfer.
Published In/Presented At
Boelig, R. C., Chaudhury, S., Aghai, Z. H., Oliver, E., Manusco, F., Berghella, V., & Bergmann-Leitner, E. (2021). Comprehensive Serological Profile and Specificity of Maternal and Neonatal Cord Blood SARS CoV-2 Antibodies. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2021.12.06.21267328. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.06.21267328
Disciplines
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
PubMedID
34909795
Department(s)
Administration and Leadership
Document Type
Article