Filenews 29 April 2021
A new test developed by researchers at the University of California-Irvine may help predict the outcome of each COVID-19 patient. The two-phase test combines a score that includes risk factors for severe disease with a test of "bad" antibodies produced at the beginning of infection. According to its authors, the test can be carried out on patients at the time of diagnosis as a "compass" for doctors before serious symptoms of COVID-19 appear.
High sensitivity
"We can predict with very high sensitivity that someone will become seriously ill because of COVID-19," Emily Sanders said. graduate student in the laboratory of chemical biologist Gregory Weiss at the University of California-Irvine who was the first author of the study published in the Open Access Review of the American Society of Microbiology "mSphere", along with Sanjana Shen and Christine Gabriel, also postgraduate students in the same lab.
Research into 'bad' antibodies
Most diagnostic tests look for antibodies that neutralize the virus. Dr. Weiss, who was the lead author of the new study, noted that his team focused on another class of antibodies not used by other researchers. "Everyone else deals with 'good' antibodies that neutralize the virus and not with antibodies that don't work auxiliaryly." And Christine Gabriel added that "identifying the 'bad' antibody response to the virus helps fill a significant research gap."
Protein N at the heart
Previous studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 has more than 55 sites on site, i.e. areas where antibodies can be linked. To date, the most well thought-out epithes are those found in the virus spike protein (S protein). But the virus has three other structural proteins worth investigating, Ms. Shen said. Using the ELISA technique, the researchers created a list of antibodies that appear to be associated with a worse prognosis for patients and eventually focused on an antibody attached to the isotope 9 of the protein N (nucleocapside protein) of the virus. The team also developed a tool that uses data on factors such as each person's age, gender and underlying diseases to produce a risk score for severe disease (DRFS).
Antibodies to the spot 9 indicator of severe disease
This two-step test was tested in 86 people who had been positively diagnosed with the new coronavirus. It emerged that patients whose examination showed the presence of antibodies on site 9 were more likely to develop prolonged disease and ultimately have a worse outcome than those who did not have these antibodies. Also out of the 23 subjects in the study who had produced antibodies that were added to the epitope 9, a high DRFS score could predict the severity of the disease with a sensitivity greater than 92%.
Cheap, easy examination
Dr. Weiss stressed that the test he developed with his team is based on technologies and tools already available in laboratories carrying out analyses for SARS-CoV-2. "Antibody detection is very easy and a cheap prognostic test will be able to guide treatment options when the patient is still in the initial phase of infection." The researchers even discovered that antibodies to epitopos 9 become detectable between one and six days after the onset of the first symptoms of COVID-19.
"We all have a person in our family or a friend who has been affected by this disease and we wanted to do something useful, which could help doctors who are terribly burdened by the pandemic," Concluded Dr. Weiss.
Source: news.in.gr
