Pre-existing humoral immunity to low pathogenic human coronaviruses exhibits limited cross-reactive antibodies response against SARS-CoV-2 in children

oleh: Nina Li, Nina Li, XueYun Li, XueYun Li, Jiani Wu, Jiani Wu, Shengze Zhang, Shengze Zhang, Lin Zhu, Lin Zhu, Qiqi Chen, Qiqi Chen, Ying Fan, Ying Fan, Zhengyu Wu, Zhengyu Wu, Sidian Xie, Sidian Xie, Qi Chen, Qi Chen, Ning Wang, Nan Wu, Chuming Luo, Chuming Luo, Yuelong Shu, Yuelong Shu, Yuelong Shu, Yuelong Shu, Huanle Luo, Huanle Luo, Huanle Luo

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-10-01

Deskripsi

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes asymptomatic or mild symptoms, even rare hospitalization in children. A major concern is whether the pre-existing antibodies induced by low pathogenic human coronaviruses (LPH-CoVs) in children can cross-react with SARS-CoV-2. To address this unresolved question, we analyzed the pre-existing spike (S)-specific immunoglobin (Ig) G antibodies against LPH-CoVs and the cross-reactive antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in 658 serum samples collected from children prior to SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. We found that the seroprevalence of these four LPH-CoVs reached 75.84%, and about 24.64% of the seropositive samples had cross-reactive IgG antibodies against the nucleocapsid, S, and receptor binding domain antigens of SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, the re-infections with different LPH-CoVs occurred frequently in children and tended to increase the cross-reactive antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. From the forty-nine serum samples with cross-reactive anti-S IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, we found that seven samples with a median age of 1.4 years old had detected neutralizing activity for the wild-type or mutant SARS-CoV-2 S pseudotypes. Interestingly, all of the seven samples contained anti-S IgG antibodies against HCoV-OC43. Together, these data suggest that children’s pre-existing antibodies to LPH-CoVs have limited cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies against SRAS-CoV-2.