Variant-specific antibody correlates of protection against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron symptomatic and overall infections

José Victor Zambrana, Ian A. Mellis, Abigail Shotwell, Hannah E. Maier, Yara Saborio, Carlos Barillas, Roger Lopez, Gerald Vasquez, Miguel Plazaola, Nery Sanchez, Sergio Ojeda, Isabel Gilbertson, Guillermina Kuan, Qian Wang, Lihong Liu, Angel Balmaseda, David D. Ho () and Aubree Gordon ()
Additional contact information
José Victor Zambrana: University of Michigan, Department of Epidemiology
Ian A. Mellis: Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Abigail Shotwell: University of Michigan, Department of Epidemiology
Hannah E. Maier: University of Michigan, Department of Epidemiology
Yara Saborio: Sustainable Sciences Institute
Carlos Barillas: Sustainable Sciences Institute
Roger Lopez: Sustainable Sciences Institute
Gerald Vasquez: Sustainable Sciences Institute
Miguel Plazaola: Sustainable Sciences Institute
Nery Sanchez: Sustainable Sciences Institute
Sergio Ojeda: Sustainable Sciences Institute
Isabel Gilbertson: University of Michigan, Department of Epidemiology
Guillermina Kuan: Sustainable Sciences Institute
Qian Wang: Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Lihong Liu: Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Angel Balmaseda: Sustainable Sciences Institute
David D. Ho: Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Aubree Gordon: University of Michigan, Department of Epidemiology

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Vaccination and prior infection elicit neutralizing antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2, yet the quantitative relationship between serum antibodies and infection risk against viral variants remains uncertain, particularly in underrepresented regions. We investigated the protective correlation of pre-exposure serum neutralizing antibody levels, employing a panel of SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses (Omicron BA.1, Omicron BA.2, and ancestral D614G), and Spike-binding antibody levels, with symptomatic BA.1 or BA.2 SARS-CoV-2 infections and overall infection, in 345 household contacts from a SARS-CoV-2 household cohort study in Nicaragua. A four-fold increase in homotypic-neutralizing (e.g., BA.1-neutralizing vs. BA.1 exposure) titers was correlated with protection from symptomatic infections (BA.1 protection: 28% [95%CI 12–42%]; BA.2 protection: 43% [20–62%]), and ancestral-neutralizing titers were also correlated with protection from either variant, but only at higher average levels than homotypic. Mediation analyses revealed that homotypic and D614G-neutralizing antibodies mediated protection from infection and symptomatic infection both from prior infection and vaccination. These findings underscore the importance of monitoring variant-specific antibody responses and highlight that antibodies targeting circulating strains may be more predictive of protection from infection. Nevertheless, ancestral-strain-neutralizing antibodies remain relevant as a correlate of protection. Our study emphasizes the need for continued efforts to assess antibody correlates of protection.

Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65235-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-65235-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65235-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().