TY - JOUR
T1 - Longitudinal changes in IgG levels among COVID-19 recovered patients
T2 - A prospective cohort study
AU - Alzaabi, Ashraf Hassan
AU - Ahmed, Luai A.
AU - Rabooy, Abdulla E.
AU - Zaabi, Ali Al
AU - Alkaabi, Mohammed
AU - AlMahmoud, Falah
AU - Hamed, Mai Farouk
AU - Bashaeb, Khalid Omar
AU - Bakhsh, Abdul Rahim
AU - Adil, Suha
AU - Elmajed, Nadeen
AU - Abousalha, Ahmed Nigm
AU - Uwaydah, Ahmad Kanaan
AU - Mazrouei, Khulood Al
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Alzaabi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Objectives To quantify SARS-CoV2 IgG antibody titers over time and assess the longevity of the immune response in a multi-ethnic population setting. Setting This prospective study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Abu Dhabi city, UAE, among COVID-19 confirmed patients. The virus-specific IgG were measured quantitatively in serum samples from the patients during three visits over a period of 6 months. Serum IgG levels 15 AU/ml was used to define a positive response. Participants 113 patients were analyzed at first visit, with a mean (SD) age of participants of 45.9 (11.8) years 87.5% of the patients were men. 63 and 27 participants had data available for visits 2 and 3, respectively. Primary outcome Change in SARS-CoV2 IgG antibody titers over the visits. Results No mortality or re-infection were reported. 69% of the patients developed positive IgG response within the first month after the onset of symptoms. The levels of IgG showed a consistent increase during the first three months with a peak level during the third month. Increasing trend in the levels of IgG were observed in 82.5%, 55.6% and 70.4% of patients between visit 1 to visit 2, visit 2 to visit 3, and from visit 1 to visit 3, respectively. Furthermore, about 64.3% of the patients showed sustained increase in IgG response for more than 120 days. Conclusions Our study indicates a sustained and prolonged positive immune response in COVID-19 recovered patients. The consistent rise in antibody and positive levels of IgG titers within the first 5 months suggest that immunization is possible, and the chances of reinfection minimal.
AB - Objectives To quantify SARS-CoV2 IgG antibody titers over time and assess the longevity of the immune response in a multi-ethnic population setting. Setting This prospective study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Abu Dhabi city, UAE, among COVID-19 confirmed patients. The virus-specific IgG were measured quantitatively in serum samples from the patients during three visits over a period of 6 months. Serum IgG levels 15 AU/ml was used to define a positive response. Participants 113 patients were analyzed at first visit, with a mean (SD) age of participants of 45.9 (11.8) years 87.5% of the patients were men. 63 and 27 participants had data available for visits 2 and 3, respectively. Primary outcome Change in SARS-CoV2 IgG antibody titers over the visits. Results No mortality or re-infection were reported. 69% of the patients developed positive IgG response within the first month after the onset of symptoms. The levels of IgG showed a consistent increase during the first three months with a peak level during the third month. Increasing trend in the levels of IgG were observed in 82.5%, 55.6% and 70.4% of patients between visit 1 to visit 2, visit 2 to visit 3, and from visit 1 to visit 3, respectively. Furthermore, about 64.3% of the patients showed sustained increase in IgG response for more than 120 days. Conclusions Our study indicates a sustained and prolonged positive immune response in COVID-19 recovered patients. The consistent rise in antibody and positive levels of IgG titers within the first 5 months suggest that immunization is possible, and the chances of reinfection minimal.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0251159
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0251159
M3 - Article
C2 - 34115768
AN - SCOPUS:85108017408
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 16
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 6 June 2021
M1 - e0251159
ER -