Laboratorio de Inmunobiología y Diagnóstico Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Químico Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero, Chilpancingo de los Bravo 39086, Mexico.
Unidad de Investigación en Inmunología y Proteómica, Laboratorio de Investigación en COVID-19, Hospital Infantil de México "Federico Gómez", Mexico City 06720, Mexico.
Viruses. 2023 Apr 13;15(4):955. doi: 10.3390/v15040955.
The nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 participates in viral replication, transcription, and assembly. Antibodies against this protein have been proposed for the epidemiological analysis of the seroprevalence of COVID-19 associated with natural infection by SARS-CoV-2. Health workers were one of the most exposed populations, and some had an asymptomatic form of the disease, so detecting IgG antibodies and subclasses against the N protein can help to reclassify their epidemiological status and obtain information about the effector mechanisms associated with viral elimination.
In this study, we analyzed 253 serum samples collected in 2021 and derived from health workers, and evaluated the presence of total IgG and subclasses against the N protein of SARS-CoV-2 by indirect ELISA.
From the analyzed samples, 42.69% were positive to anti-N IgG antibodies. A correlation between COVID-19 asymptomatic infection and IgG antibodies was observed ( = 0.006). The detected subclasses were: IgG1 (82.4%), IgG2 (75.9%), IgG3 (42.6%), and IgG4 (72.6%).
This work provides evidence about the high seroprevalence of total IgG and subclasses of anti-N and their relations with the asymptomatic infection of SARS-CoV-2 and related symptoms.
SARS-CoV-2 的核衣壳蛋白参与病毒复制、转录和组装。针对该蛋白的抗体已被提议用于对与 SARS-CoV-2 自然感染相关的 COVID-19 血清流行率进行流行病学分析。卫生工作者是暴露风险最高的人群之一，其中一些人患有无症状疾病，因此检测针对 N 蛋白的 IgG 抗体和亚类有助于重新分类他们的流行病学状况，并获得与病毒清除相关的效应机制信息。
在这项研究中，我们分析了 2021 年收集的 253 份来自卫生工作者的血清样本，并通过间接 ELISA 评估了针对 SARS-CoV-2 N 蛋白的总 IgG 和亚类的存在情况。
在所分析的样本中，42.69%对抗-N IgG 抗体呈阳性。观察到 COVID-19 无症状感染与 IgG 抗体之间存在相关性（ = 0.006）。检测到的亚类为：IgG1（82.4%）、IgG2（75.9%）、IgG3（42.6%）和 IgG4（72.6%）。
这项工作提供了关于总 IgG 和抗-N 亚类的高血清流行率及其与 SARS-CoV-2 无症状感染和相关症状之间关系的证据。
