Dried Blood Spot Eluates Are Suitable for Testing of SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibodies Targeting Spike Protein 1 and Nucleocapsid Protein

Overview

Journal Biochem Biophys Rep

Specialty Biochemistry

Date 2023 May 1

PMID 37125078

Authors

Sarah Guttmann

Sebastian Bunte

Simon Eschrig

Nils Janzen

Julia Klemens

Yara Koenemann

Dieter Munstermann

Thomas Neisse

Tim Niedergassel

Katja Steinhagen

Kristin Maria Meyer-Schlinkmann

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Dried blood spots (DBS) provide easy handling and are thus a beneficial tool for data collection, e.g. for epidemiological studies. The suitability of DBS for the assessment of antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was analyzed with regards to the use in future studies addressing seroprevalence in the population. 121 volunteers gave a venous blood sample and capillary blood samples on two DBS cards (PerkinElmer and Ahlstrom-Munksjö) via self-sampling under supervision. All samples were analyzed using the Anti-SARS-CoV-2 ELISA (IgG) and the Anti-SARS-CoV-2 NCP ELISA (IgG) from EUROIMMUN performed on the EUROIMMUN EUROLabWorkstation ELISA. Correlation coefficients between ELISA results based on the different sampling methods were calculated. Results of DBS analysis for SARS-CoV-2 IgG S1 and NCP highly correlated with the serum values (r = 0.96). In addition, the calculation of the phi coefficient showed no significant difference between the qualitative results of both sampling methods (r = 0.98-1.0). Further analysis of DBS eluates after prolonged storage of 6-8 h also showed a high correlation with serum results (r = 0.97 and r = 0.93, respectively). The study results indicate suitability of DBS for the analysis of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 S1 and NCP. For DBS eluate, a stability of 6-8 h for measurement of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies can be assumed.

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