Antibody Avidity Maturation Following Recovery From Infection or the Booster Vaccination Grants Breadth of SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Capacity. (22nd December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nakagama, Yu; Candray, Katherine; Kaku, Natsuko; Komase, Yuko; Rodriguez-Funes, Maria-Virginia; Dominguez, Rhina; Tsuchida, Tomoya; Kunishima, Hiroyuki; Nagai, Etsuko; Adachi, Eisuke; Ngoyi, Dieudonné Mumba; Yamasue, Mari; Komiya, Kosaku; Hiramatsu, Kazufumi; Uemura, Naoto; Sugiura, Yuki; Yasugi, Mayo; Yamagishi, Yuka; Mikamo, Hiroshige; Shiraishi, Satoshi; Izumo, Takehiro; Nakagama, Sachie; Watanabe, Chihiro; Nitahara, Yuko; Tshibangu-Kabamba, Evariste; Kakeya, Hiroshi; Kido, Yasutoshi
• Is Part Of: Journal of infectious diseases. Volume 227:Number 6(2023)
• Page Start: 780
• Page End: 787
• Publication Date: 2022-12-22
• Subjects: SARS-CoV-2 -- antibody maturation -- avidity -- neutralization breadth -- variants of concern; Communicable diseases -- Periodicals; Diseases -- Causes and theories of causation -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Communicable Diseases -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.9
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiac492
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1899

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Cross-neutralizing capacity of antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants is important in mitigating (re-)exposures. Role of antibody maturation, the process whereby selection of higher affinity antibodies augments host immunity, to determine SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing capacity was investigated. Methods: Sera from SARS-CoV-2 convalescents at 2, 6, or 10 months postrecovery, and BNT162b2 vaccine recipients at 3 or 25 weeks postvaccination, were analyzed. Anti-spike IgG avidity was measured in urea-treated ELISAs. Neutralizing capacity was assessed by surrogate neutralization assays. Fold change between variant and wild-type neutralization inferred the breadth of neutralizing capacity. Results: Compared with early-convalescent, avidity indices of late-convalescent sera were significantly higher (median, 37.7 [interquartile range 28.4–45.1] vs 64.9 [57.5–71.5], P < .0001). Urea-resistant, high-avidity IgG best predicted neutralizing capacity (Spearman r = 0.49 vs 0.67 [wild-type]; 0.18–0.52 vs 0.48–0.83 [variants]). Higher-avidity convalescent sera better cross-neutralized SARS-CoV-2 variants ( P < .001 [Alpha]; P < .01 [Delta and Omicron]). Vaccinees only experienced meaningful avidity maturation following the booster dose, exhibiting rather limited cross-neutralizing capacity at week 25. Conclusions: Avidity maturation was progressive beyond acute recovery from infection, or became apparent after the booster vaccine dose, granting broader anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing capacity. Understanding the maturation kinetics of the 2 building blocks of anti-SARS-CoV-2 humoral immunity is crucial. Abstract : Avidity maturation augments host immunity following a natural infection and/or vaccination. For protection against SARS-CoV-2, avidity maturation was progressive beyond acute recovery from infection or became apparent after the booster vaccine dose, and granted broader neutralizing capacity against variant strains.