Variability in SARS-Cov-2 IgG Antibody Affinity To Omicron and Delta Variants in Convalescent and Community mRNA Vaccinated Individuals

  1. Michael K. Tu
  2. Samantha H. Chiang
  3. David T.W. Wong
  4. Charles M Strom

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Abstract

The emergence of Omicron and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 has begun a number of discussions regarding breakthrough infection, waning immunity, need and timing for vaccine boosters and whether existing mRNA vaccines for the wildtype strain are adequate. Our work leverages a biosensor-based technique to evaluate the binding efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 S1 specific salivary antibodies to the Omicron and Delta variants using a cohort of mRNA vaccinated (n=109) and convalescent (n=19) subjects. We discovered a wide range of binding efficacies to the variant strains, with a mean reduction of 60.5%, 26.7%, and 14.7% in measurable signal to the Omicron strain and 13.4%, 2.4%, and −6.4% percent mean reduction to the Delta Variant for convalescent, Pfizer, and Moderna vaccinated groups respectively. This assay may be an important tool in determining susceptibility to infection or need for booster immunization as the pandemic evolves.

Key Points

  • AMPERIAL assay developed to quantify salivary SARS-CoV-2 S1 IgG antibodies to Omicron and Delta variants

  • There was a reduction in affinity to both Delta and Omicron Variants

  • The reduction in affinity was more pronounced to Omicron than for Delta Variants

  • There was a significant difference between IgG affinities in Individuals vaccinated with Pfizer versus Moderna Vaccines

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2022.03.01.22271665: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsIRB: Human Subjects: Research protocol and consents were approved by the Western Internal Review Board (Study #1302611).
    Field Sample Permit: Saliva samples were collected using the Orasure® Oral Fluid Collection Device (Orasure Technologies, Bethlehem, PA).
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    In our work we evaluated the difference between wildtype, omicron, and delta variants through the immobilization of the identical concentrations of Delta and Omicron S1 antigen and electrochemically measuring the captured SARS-CoV-2 S1 specific antibodies present in saliva.
    S1
    suggested: None
    , biotinylated anti-human IgG Fc is incubated on the plate as a secondary antibody, washed off with PBS-T, and then a horseradish peroxidase enzyme chain is incubated and washed off.
    anti-human IgG
    suggested: None
    We performed simultaneous analyses for SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies using identical amounts of either the wild-type or Omicron S1 protein immobilized in a conducting gel in the Amperial™ assay2,3.
    SARS-CoV-2
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Volunteers who had previously received a Pfizer (BioNTech) or Moderna for SARS-CoV-2 were consented.
    BioNTech
    suggested: None
    We performed simultaneous analyses for SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies using identical amounts of either the wild-type or Omicron S1 protein immobilized in a conducting gel in the Amperial™ assay2,3.
    Amperial™
    suggested: None

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

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  2. Version published to 10.1101/2022.03.01.22271665v1 on medRxiv