Characterizing A “N-CoV-2-IgG PS” diagnostic kit to quantify SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein-specific human IgG antibodies

• Published in: Infekt͡s︡ii͡a︡ i immunitet Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 771 - 778
• Main Authors: Zueva, Elena V., Belyaev, Nikolai N., Verbov, Vyacheslav N., Likhachev, Ivan V., Bachinin, Igor A., Khamitova, Irina V., Korobova, Zoya R., Arsentieva, Natalya A., Totolian, Areg A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Sankt-Peterburg : NIIÈM imeni Pastera 15.11.2022
• Subjects: antibody assays; bau/ml; covid-19; elisa kit; n-protein binding antibodies; neutralizing antibodies; sars-cov-2 n-protein
• DOI: 10.15789/2220-7619-CAN-1904
• ISSN: 2220-7619

Confirming detected SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies is necessary to reveal immune response in COVID-19 convalescent subjects as well as to conduct population studies by screening for specific antibodies to assess rate of COVID-19 prevalence. With this purpose St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute was the first in Russia to develop the ELISA kit for the quantitative determination of human IgG to the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N-CoV-2-IgG PS). Arbitrary units (AU/ml) were used to assess the level of antibodies. The data shown in AU/ml were recalculated later to the international units (BAU/ml) in accordance with established the First WHO International Standard for anti-SARS-CoV-2 human Immunoglobulin. Comparing the data of the N-CoV-2-IgG PS calibration curve with those of the First WHO International Standard for anti-SARS-CoV-2 human Immunoglobulin revealed a complete inter-assay association (r = 0.999, R2 = 0.997) allowing to find that 1BAU/ml = 5.97 AU/ml. The aim of the study was to characterize the SARS-CoV-2 protein N Human IgG Quantitative ELISA Kit (N-CoV-2-IgG PS), compare quantitative and qualitative data of ELISA kits, assess a correlation between the binding antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 N proteins and the neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. The data of correlation analysis of the 83 COVID-19 convalescent blood plasma samples a significant relationship between the antibodies quantitative values and titers SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody (r = 0.8436, R2 = 0.7802) as well as a moderate relationship between antibody concentration and positivity index (r = 0.6648, R2 = 0.3307), assessed by Chaddock scale. Comparing concentration of N-protein binding antibodies with neutralizing antibody titers level uncovered data consistency obtained by quantitative and virus microneutralization assays (r = 0.7310, R2 = 0.6527) used in parallel to analyze 80 blood plasma samples obtained from COVID-19 patients and convalescents. AUC under the ROC curve comprised 0.701 (P 0.0001) evidencing about a satisfactory informative value for N-CoV-2-IgG PS compared with microneutralization assay. In addition, the efficacy of the N-CoV-2-IgG PS was 95%, while the positive and negative prognostic value was 97% and 87%, respectively. The data obtained confirmed a correlation between N-protein binding antibody level and neutralizing antibody titer. Checking inter-assay agreement evidenced about acceptance for informativeness and efficacy of using N-CoV-2-IgG PS, thereby confirming an opportunity to apply the Kit to screen for SARS-CoV-2 N protein-specific IgG antibody level and assess seroprevalence in diverse population cohorts.