Antibody correlates of protection from SARS-CoV-2 reinfection prior to vaccination: A nested case-control within the SIREN study

Atti, A. et al. (2022) Antibody correlates of protection from SARS-CoV-2 reinfection prior to vaccination: A nested case-control within the SIREN study. Journal of Infection, 85(5), pp. 545-556. (doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2022.09.004) (PMID:36089104) (PMCID:PMC9458758)

Abstract

Objectives To investigate serological differences between SARS-CoV-2 reinfection cases and contemporary controls, to identify antibody correlates of protection against reinfection. Methods We performed a case-control study, comparing reinfection cases with singly infected individuals pre-vaccination, matched by gender, age, region and timing of first infection. Serum samples were tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike (anti-S), anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (anti-N), live virus microneutralisation (LV-N) and pseudovirus microneutralisation (PV-N). Results were analysed using fixed effect linear regression and fitted into conditional logistic regression models. Results We identified 23 cases and 92 controls. First infections occurred before November 2020; reinfections occurred before February 2021, pre-vaccination. Anti-S levels, LV-N and PV-N titres were significantly lower among cases; no difference was found for anti-N levels. Increasing anti-S levels were associated with reduced risk of reinfection (OR 0·63, CI 0·47-0·85), but no association for anti-N levels (OR 0·88, CI 0·73-1·05). Titres >40 were correlated with protection against reinfection for LV-N Wuhan (OR 0·02, CI 0·001–0·31) and LV-N Alpha (OR 0·07, CI 0·009–0·62). For PV-N, titres >100 were associated with protection against Wuhan (OR 0·14, CI 0·03–0·64) and Alpha (0·06, CI 0·008–0·40). Conclusions Before vaccination, protection against SARS-CoV-2 reinfection was directly correlated with anti-S levels, PV-N and LV-N titres, but not with anti-N levels. Detectable LV-N titres were sufficient for protection, whilst PV-N titres >100 were required for a protective effect.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This study was supported by the U.K. Health Security Agency, the U.K. Department of Health and Social Care (with contributions from the governments in Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland), the National Institute for Health Research, and grant from the UK Medical Research Council (grant number MR/W02067X/1). This work was supported by the Francis Crick Institute which receives its core funding from Cancer Research UK (CC2087, CC1283), the UK Medical Research Council (CC2087, CC1283), and the Wellcome Trust (CC2087, CC1283)
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cantoni, Dr Diego
• Authors: Atti, A., Insalata, F., Carr, E. J., Otter, A. D., Castillo-Olivares, J., Wu, M., Harvey, R., Howell, M., Chan, A., Lyall, J., Temperton, N., Cantoni, D., da Costa, K., Nadesalingam, A., Taylor-Kerr, A., Hettiarachchi, N., Tranquillini, C., Hewson, J., Cole, M. J., Foulkes, S., Munro, K., Monk, E. J.M., Milligan, I. D., Linley, E., Chand, M. A., Brown, C. S., Islam, J., Semper, A., Charlett, A., Heeney, J. L., Beale, R., Zambon, M., Hopkins, S., Brooks, T., and Hall, V.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
• Journal Name: Journal of Infection
• Publisher: Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The British Infection Association
• ISSN: 0163-4453
• ISSN (Online): 1532-2742
• Published Online: 09 September 2022
• Copyright Holders: Crown Copyright © 2022
• First Published: First published in Journal of Infection 85(5): 545-556
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence