SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody responses are more robust in patients with severe disease
Pengfei Wang, Lihong Liu, Manoj S. Nair, Michael T. Yin, Yang Luo, Qian Wang, Ting Yuan, Kanako Mori, Axel Guzmán-Solís, Masahiro Yamashita, Ankur Garg, Lawrence J. Purpura, Justin Laracy, Jian Yu, Leemor Joshua‐Tor, Joseph Sodroski, Yaoxing Huang, David D. Ho
Abstract
We studied plasma antibody responses of 35 patients about 1 month after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Titers of antibodies binding to the viral nucleocapsid and spike proteins were significantly higher in patients with severe disease. Likewise, mean antibody neutralization titers against SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus and live virus were higher in the sicker patients, by ∼5-fold and ∼7-fold, respectively. These findings have important implications for those pursuing plasma therapy, isolation of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies, and determinants of immunity.