Development and Implementation of Dried Blood Spot-Based COVID-19 Serological Assays for Epidemiologic Studies

  1. Marcus P. Wong
  2. Michelle A. Meas
  3. Cameron Adams
  4. Samantha Hernandez
  5. Valerie Green
  6. Magelda Montoya
  7. Brett M. Hirsch
  8. Mary Horton
  9. Hong L. Quach
  10. Diana L. Quach
  11. Xiaorong Shao
  12. Indro Fedrigo
  13. Alexandria Zermeno
  14. Julia Huffaker
  15. Raymond Montes
  16. Alicia Madden
  17. Sherri Cyrus
  18. David McDowell
  19. Phillip Williamson
  20. Paul Contestable
  21. Mars Stone
  22. Josefina Coloma
  23. Michael P. Busch
  24. Lisa F. Barcellos
  25. Eva Harris

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Abstract

Estimation of community-level antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 from infection or vaccination is critical to inform public health responses. Traditional studies of antibodies rely on collection of blood via venipuncture, an invasive procedure not amenable to pandemic-related social-distancing measures.

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  1. Version published to 10.1128/spectrum.02471-21
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.11.25.21266786: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsConsent: Use of samples from convalescent plasma donors but did not involve human subjects based on anonymization of data and routine consent for blood donation testing that includes use of residual samples for research purposes.
    Field Sample Permit: Both written instructions and an instructional video for at-home sample collection, including fingerstick blood sampling and preparation of DBS, were provided to all study participants.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    RandomizationWhite individuals were randomly ranked to complete the remaining participant slots.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    Plates were then washed 5 times with 0.05% PBS-Tween-20, and 100uL of goat-α-human IgG horseradish peroxidase (HRP) secondary antibody (Fisher) diluted in 1% non-fat dry milk was added.
    IgG
    suggested: None
    Briefly, the Ortho VITROS Anti-SARS-CoV-2 total (CoV2T, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc.) was used to detect total (IgG, IgM, and IgA) antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 Spike S1 protein.
    IgA
    suggested: None
    The S1 antigens coated on the assay wells bind anti-S1 antibodies from human serum which, in turn, bind to a secondary HRP-labeled S1 antigen in the conjugate reagent, forming a sandwich.
    anti-S1
    suggested: None
    DBS eluates or plasma samples are initially incubated with biotinylated and ruthenium-labeled SARS- CoV-2 recombinant N antigens, and any anti-N antibody present in the solution is sandwiched between the two.
    anti-N
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Endpoint titers were calculated using the five-parameter logistic equation function in GraphPad Prism 8, using 0.34 as the negative cut-off.
    GraphPad Prism
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)
    Statistics: Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism Version 8 (GraphPad Software) and the R statistical programming package.
    GraphPad
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)

    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

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.11.25.21266786v1 on medRxiv