Monitoring broadly neutralising HIV antibody concentrations using microsampling on dried blood spots in infants
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: The use of broadly neutralising antibodies (bNAb) to prevent HIV infection is under active investigation, including for the prevention of vertical HIV transmission. In neonates, an uncomplicated sampling method for blood collection is the use of dried blood spots (DBS). We aimed to validate the use of a combination of DBS with ELISA techniques to monitor bNAb concentrations, namely VRC07-523LS and CAP256V2LS, in neonates. METHODS: We evaluated the performance of various DBS elution protocols on spiked adult blood and next on spiked cord blood. The optimised method was validated on blood from infants injected with bNAbs. RESULTS: After selecting the best elution conditions, we reported good repeatability and reproducibility for both bNAbs in cord blood samples. The concordance study with infant receiving VRC07-523LS or CAP256V2LS samples showed that the values obtained from DBS eluates were closely aligned with those from plasma samples and when corrected by the haematocrit value, the number of outliers was 10.1% with a positive bias of 0.35 µg/mL for CAP256V2LS, and 5.0% with a positive bias of 3 µg/mL for VRC07-523LS. CONCLUSIONS: DBS microsampling allows accurate bNAb concentration measure in neonates, which will facilitate on-going paediatric clinical trials and possible subsequent monitoring in adults with home-sampling if deployed at scale.
Source: Journal of Infection
Authors: Rémi Latour, Nonhlanhla N. Mkhize, Ségolène Debiesse, Sashkia R. Balla, Mqondisi Tshabalala, Frances Ayres, Zanele Makhado, Priscilla Biswas, Logashvari Naidoo, Stefania Dispinseri, Trisha Ramraj, Nicolas Nagot, Lucio Gama, Ameena Goga, Gabriella Scarlatti, Yoann Cazaubon, Philippe Van de Perre, Penny L. Moore, Jean-Pierre Molès
Institutions: Inserm, Université de Montpellier, Pathogenesis and Control of Chronic and Emerging Infections, National Health Laboratory Service, University of the Witwatersrand, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, South African Medical Research Council, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Vaccine Research Center, University of Pretoria, Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Language: English
Subfield: Immunology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,030
Funders: Vaccine Research Center, Department of Science and Innovation, South Africa, National Research Foundation, South African Medical Research Council, National Institutes of Health, Medical Research Council, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership
OpenAlex ID: W7124429519