@article{c19ad5497f6c4635b91da97151a230a1,
title = "Use of convalescent serum reduces severity of COVID-19 in nonhuman primates",
abstract = "Passive transfer of convalescent plasma or serum is a time-honored strategy for treating infectious diseases. Human convalescent plasma containing antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is currently being used to treat patients with coronavirus disease 2019 where clinical efficacy trials are ongoing. Here, we assess therapeutic passive transfer in groups of SARS-CoV-2-infected African green monkeys with convalescent sera containing either high or low anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titers. Differences in viral load and pathology are minimal between monkeys that receive the lower titer convalescent sera and untreated controls. However, lower levels of SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory compartments, reduced severity of virus-associated lung pathology, and reductions in coagulopathy and inflammatory processes are observed in monkeys that receive high titer sera versus untreated controls. Our data indicate that convalescent plasma therapy in humans may be an effective strategy provided that donor sera contain high anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing titers given in early stages of the disease.",
keywords = "COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, antibodies, convalescent serum, coronavirus, nonhuman primate, viral pneumonia",
author = "Cross, {Robert W.} and Abhishek Prasad and Viktoriya Borisevich and Courtney Woolsey and Agans, {Krystle N.} and Deer, {Daniel J.} and Dobias, {Natalie S.} and Geisbert, {Joan B.} and Karla Fenton and Geisbert, {Thomas W.}",
note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the UTMB Animal Resource Center for husbandry support of laboratory animals, Dr. Kevin Melody for assistance with animal studies, Dr. Liana Medina for assistance with processing BAL samples, and Kira Zapalac for assistance with clinical pathology and PCR assays. We also thank Drs. Luis Branco and Matt Boisen for generously providing the SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleoprotein and spike RBD ELISA assays as well as Dr. Thomas Ksiazek for the irradiated SARS-CoV-2 whole-cell lysate used in ELISAs. The virus used in this publication was kindly provided by the European Virus Archive goes Global (EVAg) project, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 653316. The graphical abstract was created using Biorender.com. This study was supported by funds from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX to T.W.G. Operations support of the Galveston National Laboratory was supported by NIAID grant UC7AI094660. R.W.C. and T.W.G. conceived and designed the study. D.J.D. J.B.G. and T.W.G. performed the SARS-CoV-2 challenge experiments. R.W.C. D.J.D. J.B.G. and T.W.G. performed animal procedures and clinical observations. K.N.A. and V.B. performed the clinical pathology assays. C.W. processed BAL samples. V.B. performed the SARS-CoV-2 infectivity assays. K.N.A. performed the PCR. N.S.D. performed the immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. C.W. performed ELISAs and multiplex assays. K.A.F. performed the necropsies and analysis of the gross pathology, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization. All authors analyzed the clinical pathology, virology, and immunology data. R.W.C. A.N.P. K.A.F. and T.W.G. wrote the paper. All authors had access to all of the data and approved the final version of the manuscript. The authors declare no competing interests. Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the UTMB Animal Resource Center for husbandry support of laboratory animals, Dr. Kevin Melody for assistance with animal studies, Dr. Liana Medina for assistance with processing BAL samples, and Kira Zapalac for assistance with clinical pathology and PCR assays. We also thank Drs. Luis Branco and Matt Boisen for generously providing the SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleoprotein and spike RBD ELISA assays as well as Dr. Thomas Ksiazek for the irradiated SARS-CoV-2 whole-cell lysate used in ELISAs. The virus used in this publication was kindly provided by the European Virus Archive goes Global (EVAg) project, which has received funding from the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 653316. The graphical abstract was created using Biorender.com . This study was supported by funds from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston , Galveston, TX to T.W.G. Operations support of the Galveston National Laboratory was supported by NIAID grant UC7AI094660 . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Author(s)",
year = "2021",
month = mar,
day = "9",
doi = "10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108837",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "34",
journal = "Cell Reports",
issn = "2211-1247",
publisher = "Cell Press",
number = "10",
}