Protective mucosal SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the majority of the general population in the Netherlands

Marije K Verheul; Joanna Kaczorowska; Marloes I Hofstee; Rutger M Schepp; Gaby P Smits; Dewi Wessels Beljaars; Marjan Kuijer; Wendy Schuin; Irene Middelhof; Denise Wong; Cheyenne C E van Hagen; Eric R A Vos; M Alina Nicolaie; Hester E de Melker; Robert S van Binnendijk; Fiona R M van der Klis; Gerco den Hartog

doi:10.1016/j.mucimm.2024.03.008

Protective mucosal SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the majority of the general population in the Netherlands

Mucosal Immunol. 2024 Mar 27:S1933-0219(24)00027-8. doi: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2024.03.008. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Marije K Verheul¹, Joanna Kaczorowska¹, Marloes I Hofstee¹, Rutger M Schepp¹, Gaby P Smits¹, Dewi Wessels Beljaars¹, Marjan Kuijer¹, Wendy Schuin¹, Irene Middelhof¹, Denise Wong², Cheyenne C E van Hagen², Eric R A Vos², M Alina Nicolaie³, Hester E de Melker², Robert S van Binnendijk¹, Fiona R M van der Klis¹, Gerco den Hartog⁴

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Immunology of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
² Centre for Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology and Surveillance, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Statistics, Data Science and Modelling, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
⁴ Centre for Immunology of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands; Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Gerco.den.hartog@rivm.nl.

PMID: 38553008
DOI: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2024.03.008

Abstract

Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 on the mucosal surfaces of the respiratory tract are understood to contribute to protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection. We aimed to describe the prevalence, levels, and functionality of mucosal antibodies in the general Dutch population. Nasal samples were collected from 778 randomly selected participants, 1-90 years of age, nested within the nationwide prospective SARS-CoV-2 PIENTER corona serosurvey in the Netherlands. Spike-specific immunoglobulin (Ig)G was detected in the nasal samples of 94.6% (in case of the wild-type S1 variant) and 94.9% (Omicron BA.1) of the individuals, whereas 44.2% and 62.7% of the individuals were positive for wild-type and Omicron BA.1 S1 IgA, respectively. The lowest prevalence of mucosal antibodies was observed in children under 12 years of age. The prevalence and levels of IgA and IgG were higher in individuals with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Mucosal antibodies inhibited the binding of Wuhan, Delta, and Omicron BA.1 receptor binding domain to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in 94.4%, 95.4%, and 92.6% of the participants, respectively. Higher levels of mucosal antibodies were associated with a lower risk of future infection.