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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.06.02.493651

Distinct antibody responses to endemic coronaviruses pre- and post-SARS-CoV-2 infection in Kenyan infants and mothers

Stoddard, C. I.·Sung, K.·Ojee, E.·Adhiambo, J.·Begnel, E. R.·Slyker, J.·Gantt, S.·Matsen, F. A.·Kinuthia, J.·Wamalwa, D.·Overbaugh, J.·Lehman, D. A.
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Abstract

Pre-existing antibodies that bind endemic human coronaviruses (eHCoVs) can cross-react with SARS-CoV-2, the betacoronavirus that causes COVID-19, but whether these responses influence SARS-CoV-2 infection is still under investigation and is particularly understudied in infants. In this study, we measured eHCoV and SARS-CoV-1 IgG antibody titers before and after SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in a cohort of Kenyan women and their infants. Pre-existing eHCoV antibody binding titers were not consistently associated with SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in infants or mothers, though we observed a very modest association between pre-existing HCoV-229E antibody levels and lack of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in infants. After seroconversion to SARS-CoV-2, antibody binding titers to endemic betacoronaviruses HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-HKU1, and the highly pathogenic betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-1, but not endemic alphacoronaviruses HCoV-229E and HCoV-NL63, increased in mothers. However, eHCoV antibody levels did not increase following SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in infants, suggesting the increase seen in mothers was not simply due to cross-reactivity to naively generated SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. In contrast, the levels of antibodies that could bind SARS-CoV-1 increased after SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in both mothers and infants, both of whom are unlikely to have had a prior SARS-CoV-1 infection, supporting prior findings that SARS-CoV-2 responses cross-react with SARS-CoV-1. In summary, we find evidence for increased eHCoV antibody levels following SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in mothers but not infants, suggesting eHCoV responses can be boosted by SARS-CoV-2 infection when a prior memory response has been established, and that pre-existing cross-reactive antibodies are not strongly associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in mothers or infants.

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Stoddard, C. I., Sung, K., Ojee, E., Adhiambo, J., Begnel, E. R., Slyker, J., Gantt, S., Matsen, F. A., Kinuthia, J., Wamalwa, D., Overbaugh, J., Lehman, D. A.. 2022-06-03. Distinct antibody responses to endemic coronaviruses pre- and post-SARS-CoV-2 infection in Kenyan infants and mothers. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.02.493651

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