people react differently on the corona vaccination, not everyone has the same immune response. And weaker immune responses are associated with a higher risk of vaccine breakthrough. Therefore, the need for rapid antibody tests is increasing. Researchers from a private-public cooperation from Jena have now completed a new test platform.
This platform can only determine whether antibodies against Sars-CoV-2 are present or not. But the microchip can search for a large number of different antibodies and thus provide information as to whether someone only has the antibodies generated by vaccination or also those that only cause an infection.
Thuringian test can detect 18 different corona antibodies
The so-called microarray is a kind of chip that is only a few millimeters in size. It contains a whole series of binding sites (so-called antigens) to which antibodies from a blood sample can dock. The scientists at the InfectoGnostics research campus Jena have applied a total of 18 binding sites for corona antibodies and three more for antibodies against diphtheria, measles and tetanus to their new test system.
“We were able to show that we can flexibly expand the test and detect different antibodies in the patient’s blood during a single test. In the future, it would be possible to put together a microarray for all vaccinations recommended by STIKO, with which one could quickly and cheaply screen for possible vaccination gaps could,” explains Sindy Burgold-Voigt, who led the study now published in Scientific Reports.
Test can provide a quick overview of immune reactions after vaccinations
In addition to the InfectoGnostics research campus, the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technologies (Leibniz-IPHT) and the Jena University Hospital are also involved in the development. The test could be used if researchers want to get a quick overview of which antibodies someone has as the pandemic progresses – whether only those from vaccinations or those that indicate an infection with specific variants such as Omikron.
“For the further development and efficiency analyzes of vaccinations, it is extremely important that research has a diagnostic tool that can be used to get a quick overview of the immune reaction,” says Burgold-Voigt, who is doing her doctorate at Leibniz-IPHT.
A further development could also ensure that the test only works when certain threshold values for the antibodies are reached. The platform could be used to show whether someone has formed enough antibodies against the virus.