Antibody kinetics and serologic profiles of SARS-CoV-2 infection using two serologic assays

Kweon, Oh Joo; Lim, Yong Kwan; Kim, Hye Ryoun; Kim, Min-Chul; Choi, Seong-Ho; Chung, Jin-Won; Lee, Mi-Kyung

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging threat worldwide. This study aims to assess the serologic profiles and time kinetics of antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in patients with COVID-19 using two immunoassays. METHODS: A total of 97 samples serially collected from 17 patients with COVID-19 and 137 negative control samples were analyzed for IgM and IgG against SARS-CoV-2 using the AFIAS COVID-19 Ab (Boditech Med Inc., Chuncheon, Republic of Korea) and the EDI(™) Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 ELISA Kit (Epitope Diagnostics, Inc., San Diego, CA). RESULTS: With both assays, IgM and IgG rapidly increased after 7 days post symptom onset (PSO). IgM antibody levels reached a peak at 15–35 d PSO and gradually decreased. IgG levels gradually increased and remained at similar levels after 22–35 d. The diagnostic sensitivities of IgM/IgG for ≤14d PSO were 21.4%/35.7~57.1% and increased to 41.2~52.9%/88.2~94.1% at >14 d PSO with specificities of 98.5%/94.2% for AFIAS COVID-19 Ab and 100.0%/96.4% for EDI(™) Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 ELISA Kit. Among 137 negative controls, 12 samples (8.8%) showed positive or indeterminate results. CONCLUSIONS: The antibody kinetics against SARS-CoV-2 are similar to common findings of acute viral infectious diseases. Antibody testing is useful for ruling out SARS-CoV-2 infection after 14 d PSO, detecting past infection, and epidemiologic surveys.