Effects of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Strain Variation on Virus Neutralization Titers: Therapeutic Use of Convalescent Plasma

Convalescent plasma collected during the first pandemic wave showed significantly reduced neutralization capacity against the Alpha variant when compared with wild-type virus, highlighting the importance of assessing its potency against currently circulating strains before clinical use. We compared neutralizing antibody titers of convalescent samples collected before and after the emergence of novel strains of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), against the wild-type virus and Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Beta (B.1.351) variants. Plasma samples collected in 2020 before emergence of variants showed reduced titers against the Alpha variants, and both sets of samples demonstrated significantly reduced titers against Beta. Comparison of microneutralization titers with those obtained with pseudotype and hemagglutination tests showed a good correlation between their titers and effects of strain variation, supporting the use of these simpler assays for assessing the potency of convalescent plasma against currently circulating and emerging strains of SARS-CoV-2.