Open AccessEfficient Identification of High-Titer Anti–Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Antibody Plasma Samples by Pooling Method
Author(s) -
Khoa D. Nguyen,
Oliver F. Wirz,
Katharina Röltgen,
Suchitra Pandey,
Lorna Tolentino,
Scott D. Boyd,
Tho Pham
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
archives of pathology and laboratory medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.79
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1543-2165
pISSN - 0003-9985
DOI - 10.5858/arpa.2021-0215-sa
Subject(s) - medicine , seroprevalence , antibody , titer , virology , covid-19 , serology , immunology , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Context.— The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has elicited a surge in demand for serologic testing to identify previously infected individuals. In particular, antibody testing is crucial in identifying COVID-19 convalescent plasma, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration under the Emergency Use Authorization for use as passive immunotherapy for hospitalized patients infected with COVID-19. Currently, high-titer COVID-19 convalescent plasma can be qualified by Ortho's Vitros COVID-19 IgG antibody test. Objective.— To explore the use of an efficient testing method to identify high-titer COVID-19 convalescent plasma for use in treating COVID-19–infected patients and track COVID-19 positivity over time. Design.— We evaluated an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)–based method that detects antibodies specific to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) with individual and pooled plasma samples and compared its performance against the Vitros COVID-19 IgG antibody test. Using the pooled RBD-ELISA (P-RE) method, we also screened more than 10 000 longitudinal healthy blood donor samples to assess seroprevalence. Results.— P-RE demonstrates 100% sensitivity in detecting Food and Drug Administration–defined high-titer samples when compared with the Vitros COVID-19 IgG antibody test. Overall sensitivity of P-RE when compared with the Vitros COVID-19 IgG antibody test and our individual sample RBD-ELISA (I-RE) were 83% and 56%, respectively. When screening 10 218 healthy blood donor samples by P-RE, we found the seroprevalence correlated with the local infection rates with a correlation coefficient of 0.21 (P < .001). Conclusions.— Pooling plasma samples can be used to efficiently screen large populations for individuals with high-titer anti–RBD antibodies, important for COVID-19 convalescent plasma identification.