Clinical evaluation of the antibody response in patients with COVID-19 using automated high-throughput immunoassays

Kubota, Katsumi; Kitagawa, Yutaro; Matsuoka, Masaru; Imai, Kazuo; Orihara, Yuta; Kawamura, Rieko; Sakai, Jun; Ishibashi, Noriomi; Tarumoto, Norihito; Takeuchi, Shinichi; Maesaki, Shigefumi; Maeda, Takuya

Several automated high-throughput immunoassays for detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by a semi-quantitative approach have been commercialized. In this study, we describe the timeline of the antibody response in patients with RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19. A total of 292 sequential serum samples from 33 Japanese patients were retrospectively analyzed using four test kits for SARS-CoV-2: the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay (Abbott), Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay (Roche Diagnostic), and VITROS® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Total and IgG assays (Ortho Clinical Diagnostics). All automated immunoassays could equivalently identify positive sera collected within 2 weeks after symptom onset (99.3%–100%). In addition, the S protein-based automated immunoassay, the VITROS® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Total assay, may play a complementary role in evaluating passive antibody therapies or vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, although further research is required.