Serum antibody responses in subjects challenged with SMV inoculum
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Participant’s characteristics
This study only includes 33 participants from the groups 2–5 that Rouphael described [18]. Of the 33 participants, 25 were infected, determined by RT-qPCR with SMV after challenge. First, we analyzed the age, gender, race, acute gastroenteritis symptoms, and secretor status of 33 subjects. The distribution of these demographics among infected and uninfected individuals was similar. Secretor status did not statistically differ between the infected and uninfected groups. While acute gastroenteritis symptoms were frequently observed among the infected subjects, one uninfected individual also exhibited symptoms (e.g., vomiting) which was described in the previous SMV human challenge studies (Table 1) [18].
Table 1. Characteristics of SMV challenged subjects stratified by infection status
|
|
Characteristic
|
Infected* (n=25)
|
Uninfected (n=8)
|
P value
|
Age (year) (SD)
|
33.0 (9.4)
|
33.8 (10.2)
|
0.908a
|
Female
|
11 (44.0%)
|
2 (25.0%)
|
0.403b
|
Race
|
|
White
|
8 (32.0%)
|
1 (12.5%)
|
0.442c
|
Black
|
15 (60.0%)
|
7 (77.5%)
|
|
Multiple
|
2 (8.0%)
|
0
|
|
AGE symptoms
|
|
Vomit
|
11 (44.0%)
|
1 (11.1%)
|
0.114b
|
Diarrhea
|
8 (32.0%)
|
0 (0%)
|
0.077b
|
Secretor Status
|
|
Positive
|
18 (72.0%)
|
7 (87.5%)
|
0.605b
|
Negative
|
7 (28.0%)
|
1 (12.5%)
|
|
AGE: acute gastroenteritis
SD: standard deviation
*Infected was defined as SMV RNA positive in any post-challenge stool sample detected by RT-qPCR and/or serum IgG >4-fold rise between post- vs. pre-sample.
aTwo-sample t test P value
bFisher’s exact P value
cPearson ꭓ2 P value
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Temporal blockade antibody responses in infected and uninfected participants
To examine whether the blockade antibody response after SMV challenge differed between infected and uninfected subjects, the GMT and GMFR of blockade antibody were compared. At days 1 and 6, both GMT and GMFR were not significantly different between infected and uninfected (P > 0.05). However, both the GMT and GMFR of blockade antibodies were significantly different between infected and uninfected individuals on days 15, 30, and 45 (Table 2). At days 15 and 30 post-challenge, 23 infected individuals had ≥ 4-fold rise in blockade antibody. At day 15, the HBGA-blockade GMTs in infected subjects reached 295.9, and then gradually declined to 247.0 and 171.0 at days 30 and 45, respectively. At day 45, 22 of the 25 infected subjects still had detectable blockade antibody titers (Table 2 and Fig. 1A).
Table 2
Anti-SMV HBGA blockade antibody response to SMV challenge in pre- and post- samples
| Infection Statusa | |
| Infected (n = 25) | Uninfected (n = 8) | P valuec |
Day 1b |
N | 25 | 8 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 20.6 (16.0, 26.6) | 25.0 (17.2, 36.4) | 0.257 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 0 | 0 | |
Day 6 |
N | 23 | 6 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 31.8 (21.1, 48.0) | 50.0 (21.9, 114.4) | 0.201 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 1.6 (1.2, 2.0) | 1.6 (0.9, 3.0) | 0.935 |
Day 15 |
N | 23 | 6 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 295.9 (141.4, 619.5) | 67.3 (22.4, 202.5) | 0.031 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 14.6 (7.0, 30.7) | 2.21 (0.9, 5.6) | 0.018 |
Day 30 |
N | 23 | 5 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 247.0 (121.6, 501.5) | 50.0 (13.6, 183.7) | 0.034 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 12.2 (6.0, 25.0) | 1.6 (0.5, 5.2) | 0.011 |
Day 45 |
N | 22 | 5 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 171.0 (93.8, 311.1) | 50.0 (17.9, 139.9) | 0.037 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 8.5 (4.7, 15.6) | 1.59 (0.7, 3.8) | 0.010 |
aInfection was defined as SMV RNA positive in any post-challenge stool sample detected by RT-qPCR. |
bDay 1 was pre-challenge |
cKruskal-Wallis P value indicating probability of statistically significant difference in GMT and GMFR between infected and uninfected subjects post challenge |
Abbreviation: CI - confidence interval, GMT - geometric mean antibody titers, GMFR - geometric mean fold rise |
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Temporal IgG/IgA responses in infected and uninfected participants
A similar trend was observed for both serum IgG and IgA (Tables 3 and 4). For both days 1 and 6, serum IgG and IgA GMTs were relatively lower in uninfected and infected individuals. However, IgG and IgA GMTs in infected individuals sharply increased after day 6 and both IgG and IgA remained stable for days 15, 30, and 45 post-challenge (Fig. 1B and 1C).
Table 3
SMV-specific serum IgG response to SMV challenge in pre- and post- samples
| Infection Statusa | |
| Infected (n = 25) | Uninfected (n = 8) | P valueb |
Day 1c |
N | 25 | 8 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 149.7 (105.1, 213.3) | 115.0 (50.9, 259.8) | 0.301 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 0 | 0 | |
Day 6 |
N | 23 | 6 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 190.2 (129.3, 279.7) | 175.0 (77.5, 395.4) | 0.364 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 1.3 (1.1, 1.5) | 1.2 (0.8, 1.6) | 0.333 |
Day 15 |
N | 23 | 6 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 812.3 (454.6, 1451.4) | 154.4 (69.5, 343.0) | 0.001 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 5.5 (3.0, 9.9) | 1.0 (0.8, 1.3) | 0.008 |
Day 30 |
N | 23 | 5 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 895.5 (537.7, 1491.4) | 135.2 (56.6, 323.0) | 0.001 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 6.0 (3.4, 10.8) | 1.0 (0.8, 1.1) | 0.006 |
Day 45 |
N | 22 | 5 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 912.3 (554.3, 1501.4) | 133.7 (62.2, 287.3) | 0.001 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 6.1 (3.5, 10.7) | 0.9 (0.6, 1.4) | 0.004 |
a Infection defined as SMV excretion in stool detected through RT-qPCR at any time after challenge through Day 45 |
b P value obtained from Kruskal-Wallis test |
c Day 1 denotes pre-challenge |
Abbreviation: CI - confidence interval, GMT - geometric mean antibody titers, GMFR - geometric mean fold rise |
Table 4
SMV-specific serum IgA response to SMV challenge in pre- and post- samples
| Infection Statusa | |
| Infected (n = 25) | Uninfected (n = 8) | P valueb |
Day 1c |
N | 25 | 8 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 8.1 (4.9, 13.4) | 13.8 (2.6, 70.5) | 0.223 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 0 | 0 | |
Day 6 |
N | 25 | 6 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 12.4 (6.1, 25.2) | 34.1 (12.8, 76.5) | 0.165 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 1.5 (0.8, 2.9) | 1.3 (0.7, 1.6) | 0.116 |
Day 15 |
N | 25 | 6 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 54.2 (25.2, 116.7) | 26.8 (10.1, 59.9) | 0.062 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 6.7 (2.7, 16.5) | 1.9 (0.4, 1.4) | 0.025 |
Day 30 |
N | 25 | 5 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 39.9 (18.4, 86.3) | 25.5 (8.9, 69.9) | 0.231 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 4.9 (2.0, 11.9) | 1.0 (0.7, 1.3) | 0.012 |
Day 45 |
N | 22 | 5 | |
GMT (95% CI) | 50.4 (34.4, 73.8) | 23.4 (7.9, 68.5) | 0.043 |
GMFR (95% CI) | 5.5 (3.3, 9.2) | 0.9 (0.5, 1.4) | 0.012 |
a Infection defined as SMV excretion in stool detected through RT-qPCR at any time after challenge through |
Day 45 |
b P value obtained from Kruskal-Wallis test |
c Day 1 denotes pre-challenge |
Abbreviation: CI – confidence interval, GMT – geometric mean antibody titers, GMFR – geometric mean fold rise |
Correlation between serum IgG/IgA and blockade antibody titers
The correlation between blockade antibody and SMV serum IgG and IgA GMTs were examined after stratifying the subjects by infection status. No significant correlations were observed between blockade antibody and IgG/IgA among the uninfected individuals post challenge. However, IgG/IgA GMTs and blockade antibody GMTs correlated as early as day 6 for subjects who were infected and remained through day 45. Starting from day 15 post-challenge, the correlation coefficients between blockade antibody and IgG/IgA GMTs were significantly stronger and the trend slightly declined afterwards (Table 5).
Table 5
Correlation between log-transformed IgG and IgA titers and log-transformed HBGA blockade antibody titers
| SMV serum IgG | SMV serum IgA |
| Infected (n = 25) | uninfected (n = 8) | Infected (n = 25) | Uninfected (n = 8) |
Day 1 | | |
N | 25 | 8 | 25 | 8 |
R2 | 0.19 | 0.39 | 0.30 | 0.24 |
P value | 0.028 | 0.09 | 0.005 | 0.18 |
Day 6 | | |
N | 23 | 6 | 23 | 7 |
R2 | 0.48 | 0.02 | 0.40 | 0.17 |
P value | 0.0002 | 0.81 | 0.001 | 0.36 |
Day 15 | | |
N | 23 | 6 | 23 | 23 |
R2 | 0.75 | 0.01 | 0.77 | 0.03 |
P value | < 0.0001 | 0.87 | < 0.0001 | 0.72 |
Day 30 | | |
N | 23 | 5 | 23 | 6 |
R2 | 0.71 | 0.10 | 0.68 | 0.01 |
P value | < 0.0001 | 0.61 | < 0.0001 | 0.89 |
Day 45 | | |
N | 22 | 5 | 22 | 6 |
R2 | 0.57 | 0.04 | 0.61 | 0.02 |
P value | < 0.0001 | 0.75 | < 0.0001 | 0.77 |
R2: R-squared (0–1) that measures the linear association between IgG/IgA and blockade antibodies |
Association between blockade antibody and other covariates
The blockade antibody GMTs was examined using a linear mixed model that accounted for correlation within repeated subject measurements over time. The mixed model concluded that compared to the pre-challenge day (day 1), post-challenge days 15, 30, and 45 had significantly higher HBGA-blockade antibody GMTs with P values of < 0.001, < 0.001, and 0.001, respectively. SMV-specific serum IgA was also associated with HBGA-blockade antibody GMTs (Table 6). The other variables examined in the linear mixed model, which includes inoculum dose, age, and race, did not correlate with HBGA-blockade antibody levels.
Table 6
Association between covariates and HBGA-blockade antibody titer accounting for time-points among study subjects
Variables | β estimatesa | 95% CIb | P Value |
Visit Days (vs. Day 1) | | | |
Day 6 | -0.004 | -0.49, 0.49 | 0.99 |
Day 15 | 1.49 | 0.79, 2.11 | < 0.001 |
Day 30 | 1.54 | 0.79, 1.98 | < 0.001 |
Day 45 | 1.15 | 0.49, 1.65 | 0.001 |
Inoculum dose | 0.002 | -0.0001, 0.001 | 0.113 |
Age | 0.008 | -0.03, 0.04 | 0.673 |
Race (vs. White) |
Black | -0.88 | -1.47, -0.29 | 0.006 |
Multiple | -0.35 | -1.57, 0.88 | 0.565 |
ln transformed IgA | 0.6 | 0.41, 0.79 | < 0.001 |
a β denotes coefficient |
b CI is abbreviation for confidence interval |
The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) in the linear mixed model also examined the question of how much variability of HBGA-blockade antibody titer within individuals to the variability across individuals after controlling for the baseline covariates. The ICC for this model (data not shown) was 0.45 (95% CI: 0.29, 0.58), this poor correlation indicating that the variability of blockade antibody titer is observed between individuals rather than within subjects.