scholarly journals Hyperimmunized Chickens Produce Neutralizing Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2

Author(s):  
Emily J. Aston ◽  
Daria Mochly-Rosen ◽  
Aarthi Narayanan ◽  
Sofia Egaña-Labrin ◽  
Michael G. Wallach ◽  
...  

Abstract The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, is responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic. Effective interventions are urgently needed to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 and likely require multiple strategies. Egg-extracted antibody therapies are a low-cost and scalable strategy to protect at-risk individuals from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Commercial laying hens were hyperimmunized against the SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein using three different S1 recombinant proteins and three different doses. Sera and egg yolk were collected at three and six weeks after the second immunization for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and plaque reduction neutralization assay to determine antigen-specific antibody titers and neutralizing antibody titers, respectively. In this study we demonstrate that hens hyperimmunized against the SARS-CoV-2 recombinant S1 and receptor binding domain (RBD) proteins produced neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. We further demonstrate that antibody production was dependent on the dose and type of antigen administered. Our data suggest that antibodies purified from the egg yolk of hyperimmunized hens can be used as immunoprophylaxis in humans at risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 284
Author(s):  
Hulda R. Jonsdottir ◽  
Michel Bielecki ◽  
Denise Siegrist ◽  
Thomas W. Buehrer ◽  
Roland Züst ◽  
...  

Neutralizing antibodies are an important part of the humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2. It is currently unclear to what extent such antibodies are produced after non-severe disease or asymptomatic infection. We studied a cluster of SARS-CoV-2 infections among a homogeneous population of 332 predominantly male Swiss soldiers and determined the neutralizing antibody response with a serum neutralization assay using a recombinant SARS-CoV-2-GFP. All patients with non-severe COVID-19 showed a swift humoral response within two weeks after the onset of symptoms, which remained stable for the duration of the study. One month after the outbreak, titers in COVID-19 convalescents did not differ from the titers of asymptomatically infected individuals. Furthermore, symptoms of COVID-19 did not correlate with neutralizing antibody titers. Therefore, we conclude that asymptomatic infection can induce the same humoral immunity as non-severe COVID-19 in young adults.


2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
William T Lee ◽  
Roxanne C Girardin ◽  
Alan P Dupuis ◽  
Karen E Kulas ◽  
Anne F Payne ◽  
...  

Abstract Passive transfer of antibodies from COVID-19 convalescent patients is being used as an experimental treatment for eligible patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections. The United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) guidelines for convalescent plasma initially recommended target antibody titers of 160. We evaluated SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies in sera from recovered COVID-19 patients using plaque reduction neutralization tests (PRNT) at moderate (PRNT50) and high (PRNT90) stringency thresholds. We found that neutralizing activity significantly increased with time post symptom onset (PSO), reaching a peak at 31–35 days PSO. At this point, the number of sera having neutralizing titers of at least 160 was approximately 93% (PRNT50) and approximately 54% (PRNT90). Sera with high SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels (>960 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay titers) showed maximal activity, but not all high-titer sera contained neutralizing antibody at FDA recommended levels, particularly at high stringency. These results underscore the value of serum characterization for neutralization activity.


Author(s):  
Raymond T Suhandynata ◽  
Melissa A Hoffman ◽  
Deli Huang ◽  
Jenny T Tran ◽  
Michael J Kelner ◽  
...  

Background. Currently it is unknown whether a positive serology results correlates with protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2. There are also concerns regarding the low positive predictive value of SARS-CoV-2 serology tests, especially when testing populations with low disease prevalence. Methods. A neutralization assay was validated in a set of PCR confirmed positive specimens and in a negative cohort. 9,530 specimens were screened using the Diazyme SARS-CoV-2 IgG serology assay and all positive results (N=164) were reanalyzed using the neutralization assay, the Roche total immunoglobin assay, and the Abbott IgG assay. The relationship between the magnitude of a positive SARS-CoV-2 serology result and the levels of neutralizing antibodies detected was correlated. Neutralizing antibody titers (ID50) were also longitudinally monitored in SARS-CoV-2 PCR confirmed patients. Results. The SARS-CoV-2 neutralization assay had a PPA of 96.6% with a SARS-CoV-2 PCR test and a NPA of 98.0% across 100 negative controls. ID50 neutralization titers positively correlated with all three clinical serology platforms. Longitudinal monitoring of hospitalized PCR confirmed COVID-19 patients demonstrates they made high neutralization titers against SARS-CoV-2. PPA between the Diazyme IgG assay alone and the neutralization assay was 50.6%, while combining the Diazyme IgG assay with either the Roche or Abbott platforms increased the PPA to 79.2% and 78.4%, respectively. Conclusions. For the first time, we demonstrate that three widely available clinical serology assays positively correlate with SARS-CoV-2 neutralization activity observed in COVID-19 patients. When a two-platform screen and confirm approach was used for SARS-CoV-2 serology, nearly 80% of two-platform positive specimens had neutralization titers (ID50 >50).


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arantxa Valdivia ◽  
Ignacio Torres ◽  
Victor Latorre ◽  
Carla Frances-Gomez ◽  
Eliseo Albert ◽  
...  

Background: Whether antibody levels measured by commercially-available enzyme or chemiluminescent immunoassays targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein can act as a proxy for serum neutralizing activity remains to be established for many of these assays. Objectives: To evaluate the degree of correlation between neutralizing antibodies (NtAb) binding the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein and SARS-CoV-2-S-IgG levels measured by four commercial immunoassays in sera drawn from hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Patients and Methods: Ninety sera from 51 hospitalized COVID-19 patients were assayed by a pseudotyped virus neutralization assay, the LIAISON SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG, the Euroimmun SARS-CoV-2 IgG ELISA, the MAGLUMI 2019-nCoV IgG and the COVID-19 ELISA IgG assays. Results: Overall, the results obtained with the COVID-19 ELISA IgG test showed the highest agreement with the NtAb assay (κ, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.63-1). The most sensitive tests were the pseudotyped virus NtAb assay and the COVID-19 ELISA IgG assay (92.2% for both). Overall, the degree correlation between antibody titers resulting in 50% virus neutralization (NtAb50) in the pseudotyped virus assay and SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels was strong for the Euroimmun SARS-CoV-2 IgG ELISA (Rho=0.73) and moderate for the remaining assays (Rho=0.48 to 0.59). The kinetic profile of serum NtAb50 titers could not be reliably predicted by any of the SARS-CoV-2 IgG immunoassays. Conclusions: the suitability of SARS-CoV-2-S-IgG commercial immunoassays for inferring neutralizing activity of sera from hospitalized COVID-19 patients varies widely across tests and is influenced by the time of sera collection after the onset of symptoms.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (17) ◽  
pp. 9190-9202 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Trujillo ◽  
N. M. Kumpula-McWhirter ◽  
K. J. Hötzel ◽  
M. Gonzalez ◽  
W. P. Cheevers

ABSTRACT This study evaluated type-specific and cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies induced by immunization with modified surface glycoproteins (SU) of the 63 isolate of caprine arthritis-encephalitis lentivirus (CAEV-63). Epitope mapping of sera from CAEV-infected goats localized immunodominant linear epitopes in the carboxy terminus of SU. Two modified SU (SU-M and SU-T) and wild-type CAEV-63 SU (SU-W) were produced in vaccinia virus and utilized to evaluate the effects of glycosylation or the deletion of immunodominant linear epitopes on neutralizing antibody responses induced by immunization. SU-M contained two N-linked glycosylation sites inserted into the target epitopes by R539S and E542N mutations. SU-T was truncated at 518A, upstream from the target epitopes, by introduction of termination codons at 519Y and 521Y. Six yearling Saanen goats were immunized subcutaneously with 30 μg of SU-W, SU-M, or SU-T in Quil A adjuvant and boosted at 3, 7, and 16 weeks. SU antibody titers determined by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay demonstrated anamnestic responses after each boost. Wild-type and modified SU-induced type-specific CAEV-63 neutralizing antibodies and cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies against CAEV-Co, a virus isolate closely related to CAEV-63, and CAEV-1g5, an isolate geographically distinct from CAEV-63, were determined. Immunization with SU-T resulted in altered recognition of SU linear epitopes and a 2.8- to 4.6-fold decrease in neutralizing antibody titers against CAEV-63, CAEV-Co, and CAEV-1g5 compared to titers of SU-W-immunized goats. In contrast, immunization with SU-M resulted in reduced recognition of glycosylated epitopes and a 2.4- to 2.7-fold increase in neutralizing antibody titers compared to titers of SU-W-immunized goats. Thus, the glycosylation of linear immunodominant nonneutralization epitopes, but not epitope deletion, is an effective strategy to enhance neutralizing antibody responses by immunization.


Author(s):  
Raymond T Suhandynata ◽  
Melissa A Hoffman ◽  
Deli Huang ◽  
Jenny T Tran ◽  
Michael J Kelner ◽  
...  

Abstract Background It is unknown whether a positive serology result correlates with protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2. There are also concerns regarding the low positive predictive value of SARS-CoV-2 serology tests, especially when testing populations with low disease prevalence. Methods A neutralization assay was validated in a set of PCR-confirmed positive specimens and in a negative cohort. In addition, 9530 specimens were screened using the Diazyme SARS-CoV-2 IgG serology assay and all positive results (N = 164 individuals) were reanalyzed using the neutralization assay, the Roche total immunoglobin assay, and the Abbott IgG assay. The relationship between the magnitude of a positive SARS-CoV-2 serology result and neutralizing activity was determined. Neutralizing antibody titers (50% inhibitory dilution, ID50) were also longitudinally monitored in patients confirmed to have SARS-CoV-2 by PCR. Results The SARS-CoV-2 neutralization assay had a positive percentage agreement (PPA) of 96.6% with a SARS-CoV-2 PCR test and a negative percentage agreement (NPA) of 98.0% across 100 negative control individuals. ID50 neutralization titers positively correlated with all 3 clinical serology platforms. Longitudinal monitoring of hospitalized PCR-confirmed patients with COVID-19 demonstrated they made high neutralization titers against SARS-CoV-2. PPA between the Diazyme IgG assay alone and the neutralization assay was 50.6%, while combining the Diazyme IgG assay with either the Roche or Abbott platforms increased the PPA to 79.2 and 78.4%, respectively. Conclusions These 3 clinical serology assays positively correlate with SARS-CoV-2 neutralization activity observed in patients with COVID-19. All patients confirmed SARS-CoV-2 positive by PCR develop neutralizing antibodies.


2009 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 1005-1011 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. TROTT ◽  
M. YANG ◽  
J. GONZALEZ ◽  
A. E. LARSON ◽  
W. H. TEPP ◽  
...  

The objective of this research project was to determine the usefulness of an egg antibody platform for producing materials for the detection and neutralization of botulinum type A neurotoxin. Yield estimates for detection and neutralizing antibodies produced using methods described were calculated. Antibody specific to botulinum toxoid A (aToxoid) and toxin A (aBoNT/A) was produced by immunizing hens with botulinum toxoid A (toxoid) followed by increasing amounts of botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) in Freund incomplete adjuvant. Egg yolks were extracted with polyethylene glycol (PEG) for antibody detection and neutralization experiments. A model aToxoid/toxoid immunoassay using only egg yolk antibody was developed and had a detection limit of 1 pg/ml of toxoid. In an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of BoNT/A-specific antibody, the aBoNT/A contained more BoNT/A-specific antibody than did the aToxoid, and aBoNT/A was as effective as commercial rabbit antibody. The aToxoid provided no protection against BoNT/A in a standard mouse neutralization assay; however, 1 mg of PEG-extracted aBoNT/A neutralized 4,000 lethal doses of BoNT/A injected intraperitoneally. Based on these results, we calculated that in 1 month one hen could produce more than 100 liters of antibody detection reagents or enough antibody to neutralize approximately 11.6 million mouse lethal doses of botulinum toxin. Utilization of an egg antibody platform is potentially rapid (28 to 70 days) and scalable to kilogram quantities using current egg production facilities with as few as 1,000 hens.


2001 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 2888-2893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaul Reuveny ◽  
Moshe D. White ◽  
Yaakov Y. Adar ◽  
Yaron Kafri ◽  
Zeev Altboum ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Vaccination by anthrax protective antigen (PA)-based vaccines requires multiple immunization, underlying the need to develop more efficacious vaccines or alternative vaccination regimens. In spite of the vast use of PA-based vaccines, the definition of a marker for protective immunity is still lacking. Here we describe studies designed to help define such markers. To this end we have immunized guinea pigs by different methods and monitored the immune response and the corresponding extent of protection against a lethal challenge with anthrax spores. Active immunization was performed by a single injection using one of two methods: (i) vaccination with decreasing amounts of PA and (ii) vaccination with constant amounts of PA that had been thermally inactivated for increasing periods. In both studies a direct correlation between survival and neutralizing-antibody titer was found (r 2 = 0.92 and 0.95, respectively). Most significantly, in the two protocols a similar neutralizing-antibody titer range provided 50% protection. Furthermore, in a complementary study involving passive transfer of PA hyperimmune sera to naive animals, a similar correlation between neutralizing-antibody titers and protection was found. In all three immunization studies, neutralization titers of at least 300 were sufficient to confer protection against a dose of 40 50% lethal doses (LD50) of virulent anthrax spores of the Vollum strain. Such consistency in the correlation of protective immunity with anti-PA antibody titers was not observed for antibody titers determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Taken together, these results clearly demonstrate that neutralizing antibodies to PA constitute a major component of the protective immunity against anthrax and suggest that this parameter could be used as a surrogate marker for protection.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (10) ◽  
pp. 2688-2694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoli Wang ◽  
Xianghua Guo ◽  
Qianqian Xin ◽  
Yang Pan ◽  
Yaling Hu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic with no specific antiviral treatments or vaccines. There is an urgent need for exploring the neutralizing antibodies from patients with different clinical characteristics. Methods A total of 117 blood samples were collected from 70 COVID-19 inpatients and convalescent patients. Antibodies were determined with a modified cytopathogenic neutralization assay (NA) based on live severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The dynamics of neutralizing antibody levels at different time points with different clinical characteristics were analyzed. Results The seropositivity rate reached up to 100.0% within 20 days since onset, and remained 100.0% till days 41–53. The total geometric mean titer was 1:163.7 (95% confidence interval [CI], 128.5–208.6) by NA and 1:12 441.7 (95% CI, 9754.5–15 869.2) by ELISA. The antibody level by NA and ELISA peaked on days 31–40 since onset, and then decreased slightly. In multivariate generalized estimating equation analysis, patients aged 31–45, 46–60, and 61–84 years had a higher neutralizing antibody level than those aged 16–30 years (β = 1.0470, P = .0125; β = 1.0613, P = .0307; β = 1.3713, P = .0020). Patients with a worse clinical classification had a higher neutralizing antibody titer (β = 0.4639, P = .0227). Conclusions The neutralizing antibodies were detected even at the early stage of disease, and a significant response was shown in convalescent patients.


2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 1305-1313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kang Ouyang ◽  
Basavaraj Binjawadagi ◽  
Apisit Kittawornrat ◽  
Chris Olsen ◽  
Jagadish Hiremath ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTPorcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV)-specific neutralizing antibodies (NA) are important for clearing the virus. Pen-based pig oral fluid samples for disease surveillance are gaining in importance due to the ease of collection and low cost. The aim of this study was to develop a PRRSV-specific NA assay to determine NA titers in pig oral fluid samples. At first, we standardized the PRRSV NA assay using pen-based pig oral fluid samples collected over a period of 3 months from a herd of swine that received a PRRSV modified live vaccine (PRRS-MLV), and we also used oral fluid and serum samples collected from individual boars that were vaccinated with PRRS-MLV or infected with a virulent PRRSV strain. Our results suggest that a PRRSV NA titer of >8 in oral fluid samples is virus specific and can be detected beginning at 28 days after vaccination or infection. To validate the assay, we used 104 pen-based pig oral fluid and five representative serum samples from each pen of unknown history, as well as 100 serum samples from repeatedly vaccinated sows and oral fluid samples of their respective litters belonging to four different swine-breeding farms. Our results demonstrated that PRRSV NA titers in oral fluid samples are correlated with serum sample titers, and maternally derived PRRSV-specific NA titers could be detected in litters at the time of weaning. In conclusion, we have standardized and validated the pig oral fluid-based PRRSV NA assay, which has 94.3% specificity and 90.5% repeatability. The assay can be used to monitor herd immunity against PRRSV in vaccinated and infected herds of swine.


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