Assessment of the impact of pathogen reduction technologies on the neutralizing activity of COVID-19 convalescent plasma

• Published in: Transfusion and apheresis science Vol. 62; no. 3; p. 103688
• Main Authors: Hindawi, Salwa, Elgemmezi, Tarek, A. El-Kafrawy, Sherif, Samadani, Hani, Tilmisani, Mayasim, Assiri, Omar, Raml, Mohammad, I. Azhar, Esam, Badawi, Maha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2023
• Subjects: Antibodies, Viral; Biological Assay; Convalescent plasma; COVID-19; COVID-19 - therapy; COVID-19 Serotherapy; Hematology, Oncology, and Palliative Medicine; Humans; Immunization, Passive; Middle Aged; Neutralization assay; Pathogen reduction; Plasma; Riboflavin; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Neutralization assay; Pathogen reduction; Convalescent plasma
• ISSN: 1473-0502; 1878-1683; 1473-0502
• DOI: 10.1016/j.transci.2023.103688

COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) could improve the clinical outcome of COVID-19 patients when high-titer CCP is administered in early stages of disease. However, CCP donors have a risk profile like first-time donors, pathogen reduction treatment (PRT) may mitigate such risk but should not impact CCP quality. The current study aims to assess the impact of PRT-technologies available in Saudi Arabia on the neutralizing activity of CCP. and Methods: CCP was collected from eligible donors by plasmapheresis. The neutralization titer was determined with an in-house microneutralization assay (MNA) using a local SARS-CoV-2 clinical isolate. Selected units were split and subject to PRT with amotosalen/UVA (AS) or Riboflavin/UVB (RB) (pairwise side-by-side comparison) followed by a second MNA analysis. 51 CCP units were collected, 27 were included in the analysis reaching the minimum MNA titer of 1:40 (4 reached high titer (≥1:250)). 27 CCP units were treated with AS and 14 with RB, the median MNA pre-treatment titer was 1:80 (1:40–640). The impact of AS and RB PRT on CCP neutralizing activity was not significantly different, nor in the total analysis neither in the pairwise comparison (94.6 vs 96.4 % retention, p > 0.05). No correlation of titer and blood group was observed, but a trend for increasing MNA titer with donor age, choosing donors with an age > 45 years would increase the number of high-titer CCP donors. The difference in impact of AS and RB on CCP MNA titer was below the limit of detection of the assay (0.5-fold).