The Human Milk Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2 Infection
摘要
There is an enormous body of evidence demonstrating the benefits of human milkMilk antibodies (Abs) in protecting infantsInfants against a wide range of infections. We have collected milkMilk longitudinally from hundreds of previously-infected participants, in studies designed originally as no-contact at the onset of COVID-19COVID-19 cases in New York City in March 2020. We have found that ~ 90% of samples are positive for Spike-specific Immunoglobulin A (IgA). Levels of IgA and secretory Abs were shown to be strongly correlated. The secretory Immunoglobulin A (sIgA)Secretory Immunoglobulin A (sIgA) response was dominant compared to the Immunoglobulin G (IgG) response. Seventy five percent of samples tested exhibited significant neutralizing activity strongly correlated with IgA titer. Nine to twelve months after infection, 94% of samples continued to exhibit positive anti-Spike titers, with 50% of participants exhibiting < two-fold reduction of specific IgA, indicating a highly durable Ab response. MilkMilk IgA was extracted from high-titer donors, pooled, and tested for its capacity to reduce viral lung burden in SARS-CoV-2SARS-CoV-2 susceptible mice. Extracted IgA significantly reduced SARS-CoV-2SARS-CoV-2 titers compared to control IgA, with a maximum TCID50 reduction of 4.9 logs. Our work highlights the importance of continued chest/breastfeeding after SARS-CoV-2SARS-CoV-2 infection and supports further development of milk-derived, polyclonal sIgASecretory Immunoglobulin A (sIgA) therapeutics.