B. Isho, K. Abe, Michelle Zuo, A. Jamal, B. Rathod, Jenny H. Wang, Zhijie Li, G. Chao, O. Rojas, Yeo Myong Bang, Annie Pu, Natasha Christie-Holmes, C. Gervais, D. Ceccarelli, P. Samavarchi-Tehrani, Furkan Guvenc, P. Budylowski, Angel X Li, A. Paterson, F. Yue, L. M. Marin, L. Caldwell, J. Wrana, K. Colwill, F. Sicheri, S. Mubareka, S. Gray-Owen, S. Drews, W. Siqueira, M. Barrios-Rodiles, M. Ostrowski, J. Rini, Y. Durocher, A. McGeer, J. Gommerman, A. Gingras
Science Immunology, 2020
Saliva is an alternative biofluid to serum for detecting and monitoring IgG to SARS-CoV-2 spike and RBD antigens in COVID-19. While the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 has been extensively studied in blood, relatively little is known about the antibody response in saliva and its relationship to systemic antibody levels. Here, we profiled by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) IgG, IgA and IgM responses to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (full length trimer) and its receptor-binding domain (RBD) in serum and saliva of acute and convalescent patients with laboratory-diagnosed COVID-19 ranging from 3–115 days post-symptom onset (PSO), compared to negative controls. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses were readily detected in serum and saliva, with peak IgG levels attained by 16–30 days PSO. Longitudinal analysis revealed that anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA and IgM antibodies rapidly decayed, while IgG antibodies remained relatively stable up to 105 days PSO in both biofluids. Lastly, IgG, IgM and to a lesser extent IgA responses to spike and RBD in the serum positively correlated with matched saliva samples. This study confirms that serum and saliva IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 are maintained in the majority of COVID-19 patients for at least 3 months PSO. IgG responses in saliva may serve as a surrogate measure of systemic immunity to SARS-CoV-2 based on their correlation with serum IgG responses.
Cited by 253 publications.
Field of study: Medicine