Comparison of six COVID-19 serology assays for detection of antibodies from patients infected with ancestral and a spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 variants

Serology assays against spike, receptor binding domain (RBD) and nucleocapsid proteins of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 are essential for serosurveillance. We performed a comparison of four medium-to-high throughput commercial assays [Abbott Laboratories, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Meso Scale Diagnostics (MSD)], one point-of-care test (ZEKMED) and a laboratory-developed plaque reduction neutralization test using a reference panel and clinical specimens. Overall, the assays showed a high positive percent agreement of ≥85% and negative percent agreement of ≥90%, with the MSD anti-spike IgG assay having the best performance (100% in both). Notably, Abbott anti-nucleocapsid IgG, MSD anti-spike IgG and ZEKMED anti-spike RBD IgM/IgG combined assays were able to detect antibodies from individuals infected with all different variants tested - Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron. The limit of detection (LOD) of the assays ranged from 9.9 to 62.0 BAU ml<sup>-1</sup>, with the Abbott anti-spike RBD having the lowest LOD. The COVID-19 serology assays will continue to be useful in determining seroprevalence from infection and vaccination.

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Publication Details

Journal
Access Microbiology
Published
2025-07-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.000974.v3
Primary Topic
SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
Type
article
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article

Comparison of six COVID-19 serology assays for detection of antibodies from patients infected with ancestral and a spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 variants

Jonathan B. Gubbay, Allison McGeer, Melissa Richard‐Greenblatt, Chandrika Senthilkumaran et al.
Access Microbiology
SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
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Comparison of six COVID-19 serology assays for detection of antibodies from patients infected with ancestral and a spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 variants

Jonathan B. Gubbay, Allison McGeer, Melissa Richard‐Greenblatt, Chandrika Senthilkumaran, Julianne V. Kus, Shelly Bolotin, Jennifer Ma, Samira Mubareka, Kathy Manguiat, Katherene Ogbulafor, Heidi Wood, Jaron Chong, Aaron J. Campigotto, Angel Xinliu Li, Freda Qi, Mohammad Mozafarihashjin, Vanessa Tran, Alyssia Robinson, Rosmol-Stanes Pulikkottil, Larry Gabe
article en

Abstract

Serology assays against spike, receptor binding domain (RBD) and nucleocapsid proteins of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 are essential for serosurveillance. We performed a comparison of four medium-to-high throughput commercial assays [Abbott Laboratories, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Meso Scale Diagnostics (MSD)], one point-of-care test (ZEKMED) and a laboratory-developed plaque reduction neutralization test using a reference panel and clinical specimens. Overall, the assays showed a high positive percent agreement of ≥85% and negative percent agreement of ≥90%, with the MSD anti-spike IgG assay having the best performance (100% in both). Notably, Abbott anti-nucleocapsid IgG, MSD anti-spike IgG and ZEKMED anti-spike RBD IgM/IgG combined assays were able to detect antibodies from individuals infected with all different variants tested - Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron. The limit of detection (LOD) of the assays ranged from 9.9 to 62.0 BAU ml<sup>-1</sup>, with the Abbott anti-spike RBD having the lowest LOD. The COVID-19 serology assays will continue to be useful in determining seroprevalence from infection and vaccination.

Access MicrobiologyVol. 7(7)
Mount Sinai Hospital (CA), Sunnybrook Health Science Centre (CA), Public Health Agency of Canada (CA), University of Toronto (CA), Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (CA), Hospital for Sick Children (CA), Health Sciences Centre (CA), Rochester General Hospital (US), Public Health Ontario (CA), Sinai Health System (CA), BC Children's Hospital (CA)
Openalex Percentile: Top 79%
SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
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