Performance evaluation of the BZ COVID-19 neutralizing antibody test for the culture-free and rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies

Bo Kyeung Jung, Jung Yoon, Joon Yong Bae, Jeonghun Kim, Man Seong Park, Suk Yong Lee, Chae Seung Lim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Rapid and accurate measurement of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) can aid in understanding the development of immunity against COVID-19. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of a rapid SARS-CoV-2 nAb detection test called the BZ COVID-19 nAb test BZ-nAb (BZ-nAb; BioZentech). Using the 90% plaque-reduction neutralization test (PRNT-90) as a reference, 104 serum specimens collected from COVID-19-positive and-negative patients were grouped into 40 PRNT-90-positive and 64 PRNT-90-negative specimens. The performance of the BZ-nAb was compared with that of the cPass surrogate virus neutralization test (cPass sVNT; Genscript). The BZ-nAb showed a sensitivity ranging from 92.5%–95.0% and specificity ranging from 96.9%–100%, whereas cPass sVNT showed a sensitivity of 100% (95% confidence interval (CI) 90.5%–100%) and specificity of 98.4% (95% CI, 91.6%–100%). The dilution factor obtained with PRNT-90 showed a stronger correlation with the percent inhibition of cPass sVNT (r = 0.8660, p < 0.001) compared with the test and control line ratio (T/C ratio) of the BZ-nAb (r = −0.7089, p < 0.001). An almost perfect agreement was seen between the BZ-nAb and cPass sVNT results, with a strong negative correlation between the BZ-nAb T/C ratio and cPass sVNT percent inhibition (r = −0.8022, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the diagnostic performance of the BZ-nAb was comparable to that of the cPass sVNT, although the BZ-nAb had a slightly lower sensitivity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2193
JournalDiagnostics
Volume11
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021 Dec

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • ELISA
  • Neutralizing antibodies
  • RDT
  • SARS-CoV-2

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Biochemistry

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