Ultrasensitive detection of salivary SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in individuals with natural and COVID-19 vaccine-induced immunity

Stefani Thomas, Amy B. Karger, Ghaith Altawallbeh, Kathryn Nelson, David R. Jacobs, Jed B Gorlin, Helene Barcelo-Larson, Bharat Thyagarajan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

We assessed the feasibility of a highly sensitive immunoassay method based on single molecule array (Simoa) technology to detect IgG and IgA antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) in saliva from individuals with natural or vaccine-induced COVID-19 immunity. The performance of the method was compared to a laboratory-developed SARS-CoV-2 RBD total antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Paired serum and saliva specimens were collected from individuals (n = 40) prior to and 2 weeks after receiving an initial prime COVID-19 vaccine dose (Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162b2 or Moderna mRNA-1273). Saliva was collected using a commercially available collection device (OraSure Inc.) and SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG antibodies were measured by an indirect ELISA using concentrated saliva samples and a Simoa immunoassay using unconcentrated saliva samples. The IgG results were compared with paired serum specimens that were analyzed for total RBD antibodies using the ELISA method. The analytical sensitivity of the saliva-based Simoa immunoassay was five orders of magnitude higher than the ELISA assay: 0.24 pg/mL compared to 15 ng/mL. The diagnostic sensitivity of the saliva ELISA method was 90% (95% CI 76.3–97.2%) compared to 91.7% (95% CI 77.5–98.2%) for the Simoa immunoassay without total IgG-normalization and 100% (95% CI 90.3–100%) for the Simoa immunoassay after total IgG-normalization when compared to the serum ELISA assay. When analyzed using the SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG antibody ELISA, the average relative increase in antibody index (AI) between the saliva of the post- and pre-vaccinated individuals was 8.7 (AIpost/pre). An average relative increase of 431 pg/mL was observed when the unconcentrated saliva specimens were analyzed using the Simoa immunoassay (SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgGpost/pre). These findings support the suitability of concentrated saliva specimens for the measurement of SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG antibodies via ELISA, and unconcentrated saliva specimens for the measurement of SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG and IgA using an ultrasensitive Simoa immunoassay.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number8890
JournalScientific reports
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge the staff of the University of Minnesota Advanced Research and Diagnostic Laboratory.

Funding Information:
This project has been funded in part with Federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. 75N91019D00024, Task Order No.75N91021F00001. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. This study was also supported by funds from the University of Minnesota Division of Epidemiology (Hawley Family Fund) and Community Health, and the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

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