Coronavirus Antibody Responses before COVID-19 Pandemic, Africa and Thailand

Abstract

C OVID-19 clinical manifestations range from asymptomatic infection to death. Whether prior immune responses to human coronaviruses affect responses to SARS-CoV-2 remains unclear. At the population level, disparities in COVID-19 outcomes have been observed across geographic regions. For instance, countries in Africa have reported lower mortality rates than high-income countries, which can be attributed to the small percentage of persons in the oldest age groups and to underreporting (1,2). Previous responses to endemic coronaviruses also could influence how different populations responded to SARS-CoV-2.Findings conflict as to whether previous coronavirus antigen responses cross-react with SARS-CoV-2. Depending on the antigen and cohort tested, binding responses have been detected in prepandemic samples at varying frequencies, but neutralizing antibodies have been identified in fewer samples (3-8). Some studies of prepandemic samples indicated that neutralizing responses to endemic coronaviruses could protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection, but the effects of previous coronavirus responses on SARS-CoV-2 have not been clearly elucidated (6,7,9-13).To investigate coronavirus-specific antibody responses in different settings, we analyzed 2,565 samples collected during 2013 through early 2020 from persons living with HIV-1 (PLHIV) and persons without HIV in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Thailand. We profiled antibody binding responses to coronavirus antigens, including spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, and 4 endemic coronaviruses. We further evaluated a subset of samples with strong binding responses for neutralizing, antibody-dependent cellular

Priming with Japanese encephalitis virus or yellow fever virus vaccination led to the recognition of multiple flaviviruses without boosting antibody responses induced by an inactivated Zika virus vaccine

“…To evaluate how prior flavivirus vaccination shaped the immune response to the ZPIV vaccine, we characterized the antibody-mediated immune profile elicited by the vaccines and investigated the impact of potentially cross-reactive responses (due to prior vaccination) on ZPIV-induced immunity using a systems serology approach. 22 , 23 , 24 We found no evidence that priming with JEV or YFV vaccines improved the magnitude of the antibody response elicited by ZPIV, yet antibody-mediated responses showed qualitative differences across groups with more flaviviruses being recognized in the primed groups.…”

“…We characterized antibody binding responses in 371 samples collected longitudinally using a previously developed multiplex bead-based immunoassay designed to assess Envelope (E) and non-structural protein 1 (NS1) responses against human flaviviruses (ZIKV (x8), DENV(x8), JEV (x2), YFV (x2), TBEV, WNV (x2)) and one alphavirus (Chikungunya virus CHIKV as a negative control). 23 , 24 Profiling isotypes (IgG, IgA, IgM), subclasses (IgG1-4) and binding to four Fc gamma receptors (FcγR2A, FcγR2B, FcγR3A, FcγR3B) resulted in 587,664 data points ( Fig. S2 ).…”

“…Antibody responses were profiled using an assay adapted from previous studies. 23 , 24 Per million beads, 10 μg of antigen was coupled; 1200 conjugated beads of each antigen per well were used and samples were ran in triplicate at 2 dilutions, 1:200 and 1:800. Binding to seven antibody isotypes and subclasses (IgA, total IgG, IgG1-4 and IgM) and four Fc gamma receptors (FcγR) was measured.…”

Prepandemic cross-reactive humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in Africa: Systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Conversely, Li et al. [21] found neutralizing responses in some prepandemic samples; neutralizing and binding activities did not correlate. Stronger evidence for neutralizing activity was obtained by Nyagwange et al.…”

Mapping the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) related Research – A Scoping Review (2012-2023)

“…Our review was organized into four scope levels, namely human, animal, animal-human interface and environment. The results show that at the human level, scientists made considerable efforts to investigate potential anti-MERS-CoV therapeutics [30, 31] and vaccine candidates [32, 33] to decrease morbidity and mortality. Nevertheless, no therapeutics or vaccines for MERS-CoV have been licensed to date, demonstrating that more effort should be invested to develop licensed medical countermeasures.…”