Scientific Reports (Mar 2022)

Quantity of IgG response to SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein predicts pulmonary recovery from COVID-19

  • Manfred Nairz,
  • Sabina Sahanic,
  • Alex Pizzini,
  • Anna Böhm,
  • Piotr Tymoszuk,
  • Anna-Maria Mitterstiller,
  • Laura von Raffay,
  • Philipp Grubwieser,
  • Rosa Bellmann-Weiler,
  • Sabine Koppelstätter,
  • Andrea Schroll,
  • David Haschka,
  • Martina Zimmermann,
  • Silvia Blunder,
  • Kristina Trattnig,
  • Helene Naschberger,
  • Werner Klotz,
  • Igor Theurl,
  • Verena Petzer,
  • Clemens Gehrer,
  • John E. Mindur,
  • Anna Luger,
  • Christoph Schwabl,
  • Gerlig Widmann,
  • Günter Weiss,
  • Judith Löffler-Ragg,
  • Ivan Tancevski,
  • Thomas Sonnweber

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07489-6
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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Abstract The CovILD study is a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study to systematically follow up patients after coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). We extensively evaluated 145 COVID-19 patients at 3 follow-up visits scheduled for 60, 100, and 180 days after initial confirmed diagnosis based on typical symptoms and a positive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). We employed comprehensive pulmonary function and laboratory tests, including serum concentrations of IgG against the viral spike (S) glycoprotein, and compared the results to clinical data and chest computed tomography (CT). We found that at the 60 day follow-up, 131 of 145 (90.3%) participants displayed S-specific serum IgG levels above the cut-off threshold. Notably, the highly elevated IgG levels against S glycoprotein positively correlated with biomarkers of immune activation and negatively correlated with pulmonary function and the extent of pulmonary CT abnormalities. Based on the association between serum S glycoprotein-specific IgG and clinical outcome, we generated an S-specific IgG-based recovery score that, when applied in the early convalescent phase, accurately predicted delayed pulmonary recovery after COVID-19. Therefore, we propose that S-specific IgG levels serve as a useful immunological surrogate marker for identifying at-risk individuals with persistent pulmonary injury who may require intensive follow-up care after COVID-19.