Frontiers in Immunology (Jun 2021)

Case Report: Effects of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Convalescent Antibodies Obtained With Double Filtration Plasmapheresis

  • Diego Curtò,
  • Diego Curtò,
  • Federica Tomatis,
  • Sara Gastoldi,
  • Miriam Galbusera,
  • Marina Noris,
  • Federico Raimondi,
  • Federico Raimondi,
  • Ferdinando Luca Lorini,
  • Anna Falanga,
  • Anna Falanga,
  • Marina Marchetti,
  • Giuseppe Remuzzi,
  • Piero Ruggenenti,
  • Piero Ruggenenti

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.711915
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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Passive antibody therapy has been used to treat outbreaks of viral disease, including the ongoing pandemic of severe respiratory acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or COVID-19. However, the real benefits of the procedure are unclear. We infused a concentrated solution of neutralizing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies obtained from a convalescent donor with a single session of double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) into a 56-year-old woman with long history of unremitting, severe COVID-19. She was unable to establish an adequate antiviral immune response because of previous chemotherapy, including the infusion of the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab, administered to treat a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The disease promptly recovered despite evidence of no endogenous anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody production. The observation that passive antibody therapy might prove particularly effective in immunodepressed COVID-19 patients requires evaluation in prospective randomized controlled trial.

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