PeerJ (Dec 2022)

The long-term dynamics of serum antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

  • Graziele Fonseca de Sousa,
  • Thuany da Silva Nogueira,
  • Lana Soares de Sales,
  • Fernanda Ferreira Maissner,
  • Odara Araújo de Oliveira,
  • Hellade Lopes Rangel,
  • Daniele das Graças dos Santos,
  • Rodrigo Nunes-da-Fonseca,
  • Jackson de Souza-Menezes,
  • Jose Luciano Nepomuceno-Silva,
  • Flávia Borges Mury,
  • Raquel de Souza Gestinari,
  • Amilcar Tanuri,
  • Orlando da Costa Ferreira Jr,
  • Cintia Monteiro-de-Barros

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14547
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10
p. e14547

Abstract

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Objective To analyze the long-term dynamics of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and understand the impact of age, gender, and viral load on patients’ immunological response. Methods Serum samples were obtained from 231 COVID-19 positive patients from Macaé, in Rio de Janeiro state, in Brazil, from June 2020 until January 2021. The production of IgA, IgM, IgG, and IgE against S glycoprotein was analyzed using the S-UFRJ assay, taking into account the age, gender, and viral load. Results Analysis of antibody production over 7 months revealed that IgA positivity gradually decreased after the first month. Additionally, the highest percentage of IgM positivity occurred in the first month (97% of patients), and declined after this period, while IgG positivity remained homogeneous for all 7 months. The same analysis for IgE revealed that almost all samples were negative. The comparison of antibody production between genders showed no significant difference. Regarding the age factor and antibody production, patients aged ≥60 years produced almost twice more IgA than younger ones (17–39 years old). Finally, a relationship between viral load and antibody production was observed only for older patients. Conclusions Our work provides an overview of long-term production of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, suggesting prolonged production of IgA and IgM antibodies for 3 months and continued IgG production for over 7 months. In addition, it identified a correlation between viral load and IgM titers in the older group and, finally, different IgA production between the age groups.

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