Persistence of robust humoral immune response in COVID-19 convalescent individuals over 12 months after infection

Miyakawa, K.; Kubo, S.; Jeremiah, S. S.; Go, H.; Yamaoka, Y.; Ohtake, N.; Kato, H.; Ikeda, S.; Mihara, T.; Matsuba, I.; Sanno, N.; Miyakawa, M.; Shinkai, M.; Miyazaki, T.; Ogura, T.; Ito, S.; Kaneko, T.; Yamamoto, K.; Goto, A.; Ryo, A.

SARS-CoV-2 infection elicits varying degrees of protective immunity conferred by neutralizing antibodies (nAbs). Here we report the persistence of nAb responses over 12 months after infection despite its decreasing trend noticed from 6 months. The study included sera from 358 individuals who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 between January and May 2020. Samples were collected at 6 and 12 months after onset. The titers of IgG to the viral nucleocapsid protein (NP) and receptor-binding domain of the spike protein (RBD) were measured by CLEIA. The nAb titer was determined using lentivirus-based pseudovirus or authentic virus. Antibody titers of NP-IgG, RBD-IgG, and nAbs were higher in severe and moderate cases than in mild cases at 12 months after onset. While the nAb levels were likely to confer adequate protection against wild-type viral infection, the neutralization activity to recently circulating variants in some of the mild cases (~30%) was undermined, implying the susceptibility of reinfection to the variants of concerns (VOCs). COVID-19 convalescent individuals have robust humoral immunity even at 12 months after infection albeit that the medical history and background of patients could affect the function and dynamics of antibody response to the VOCs.