Journal
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 59, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1128/JCM.02204-20
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; saliva; oral fluid; serology; antibody test; multiplex; diagnostics; immunoserology
Categories
Funding
- Sanofi Pasteur
- Quidel
- Merck
- Pfizer
- Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Research Response Program
- FIA Foundation
- GRACE Communications Foundation
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) [R21AI139784, R43AI141265]
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) [R01ES026973]
- NIAID [R01AI130066]
- NIH [U24OD023382]
- NIH/NIAID Center of Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance contract [HHS N2772201400007C]
- Division of Intramural Research, NIAID
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This study found that salivary antibodies could be a noninvasive alternative for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 infection and seropositivity at a population scale. The results showed a high correlation between salivary and serum antibodies, and high sensitivity and specificity of salivary antibodies for detecting COVID-19 infection.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of an ongoing pandemic that has infected over 36 million and killed over 1 million people. Informed implementation of government public health policies depends on accurate data on SARS-CoV-2 immunity at a population scale. We hypothesized that detection of SARS-CoV-2 salivary antibodies could serve as a noninvasive alternative to serological testing for monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 infection and seropositivity at a population scale. We developed a multiplex SARS-CoV-2 antibody immunoassay based on Luminex technology that comprised 12 CoV antigens, mostly derived from SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) and spike (5). Saliva and sera collected from confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and from the pre-COVID-19 era were tested for IgG, IgA, and IgM to the antigen panel. Matched saliva and serum IgG responses (n = 28) were significantly correlated. The salivary anti-N IgG response resulted in the highest sensitivity (100%), exhibiting a positive response in 24/24 reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 cases sampled at >14 days post-symptom onset (DPSO), whereas the salivary anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) IgG response yielded 100% specificity. Temporal kinetics of IgG in saliva were consistent with those observed in blood and indicated that most individuals seroconvert at around 10 DPSO. Algorithms employing a combination of the IgG responses to N and S antigens result in high diagnostic accuracy (100%) by as early as 10 DPSO. These results support the use of saliva-based antibody testing as a noninvasive and scalable alternative to blood-based antibody testing.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available