TX Cares Antibody study (natural vs vaccination)

96,110 Views | 629 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by VaultingChemist
thirdcoast
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https://sph.uth.edu/projects/texascares/

So I enrolled in this study and Friday got my first of 3 blood tests over 6 months. Still waiting on full results to see how much it tells you.

They are taking natural and vaccinated antibody subjects. I'm curious if anyone else is doing it or knows about it?

Seems like a great way to conclusively compare natural vs vaccination response.

I was infected in June of last year and hoping to see how my levels measure up to vaccinated.
ORAggieFan
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It's interesting, but there is a lot more to immunity beyond antibodies. Are they testing for everything?
88planoAg
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Been enrolled since February and have had 2 tests. I had covid Dec 2020 and still have antibodies. They text the results, I didn't get anything other than "positive for antibodies".
Tabasco
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All you get is a text that says positive/negative for antibodies. I too have had the first two tests. February was negative, and my second was positive (presumably from vaccine).
thirdcoast
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The text has a link to full results uploaded to CPL portal (Clinical Pathology Labs, not Avenatti)

Looks like I'm 44.3 after 13 months since infection. Would love to see what the AB index is in vaccinated folks after 13 months. Or expert opinions on what these results mean in terms of me becoming part of the less than 1% that get reinfected?

I'll continue to post my next 2 levels here to see rate of decline over next several months. Would be awesome if others could too.



*I know that in mid April the blood bank said my antibodies were no longer useful or needed in convalescent treatment. But they were a month prior in my early March donation bc they asked me to come back in April. So maybe that was bc my levels were too low to be med grade or maybe they had surplus....or maybe they wanted my double red blood bc that's what they convinced me to give instead.
MiMi
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Quote:

The text has a link to full results uploaded to CPL portal (Clinical Pathology Labs, not Avenatti)
The text of my positive antibody result back in May does not have a link to the quantitative results. Since the blood draw was in May, maybe they hadn't set it up yet?
thirdcoast
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Register here to register with an email and password
https://cpl.luminatehealth.com/common/signup

Then when you login it will prob take you to a page that says your results will be uploaded in 48 hrs. But they prob won't, so call 512-339-1275 give them your name DOB and they will uplaod your full results within an hr. Then we will see who is higher
thirdcoast
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Apparently no one at CPL knows what the unit of measure is on these numbers or what the "H" stands for. Maybe High?

Are there any doc/experts here who can tell us what this means? There is practically nothing coming up in searches of antibody serology or other studies to measure these results against averages or high/low thresholds.

BiochemAg97
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I don't know what units these are reported in, and it is probably a number spit out by the instrument, so most lab techs probably don't know what units either.

Looks like they are testing for N protein and S protein antibodies. The vaccines only include S, so someone who was vaccinated but never exposed should be S antibody positive by N antibody negative. People who had COVID should be N positive and S positive.

Beyond that, looks like you are good for now.


Note: antibody tests are testing for antibodies circulating in the blood. Having low antibodies doesn't necessarily mean no longer immune, as memory B cells should remain that can quickly make antibodies when needed. As a practical matter, circulating antibodies will respond more quickly. In theory, it could be the difference between no infection and mild infection, for example.
KlinkerAg11
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This is possibly a stupid question, but can getting a cold trigger your antibodies to build even if it's not Covid?

Was just curious if it could work that way or if it specifically has to be triggered by Covid itself.

Edit: baring you've had Covid or the vaccine, just wondering if it can work that way.
Tabasco
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Thanks for the info on full results. In your results, is there a way to determine if antibodies are from COVID or from vaccine?

Edit to add: nevermind... Biochem answered as I was typing.
BiochemAg97
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KlinkerAg11 said:

This is possibly a stupid question, but can getting a cold trigger your antibodies to build even if it's not Covid?

Was just curious if it could work that way or if it specifically has to be triggered by Covid itself.
Maybe. There are 4 human coronaviruses that cause colds in people. If you had antibodies that were cross reactive between COVID and the other coronavirus, you would probably see an increase in response.

We know that SARS and COVID are close enough that antibodies cross react. The human coronaviruses are more distantly related, so the odds of cross reactivity are lower.

There are at least 2 other virus families that cause colds, so having a cold doesn't necessarily mean having a coronavirus. Even lass chance of cross reactivity with the other cold viruses.
KlinkerAg11
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Gotcha, appreciate the answer.

It's more likely coming into contact with Covid will cause antibodies to spike.

Hints the herd immunity I guess, more natural infections and immunizations the better.
Tabasco
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thirdcoast said:

Register here to register with an email and password
https://cpl.luminatehealth.com/common/signup

Then when you login it will prob take you to a page that says your results will be uploaded in 48 hrs. But they prob won't, so call 512-339-1275 give them your name DOB and they will uplaod your full results within an hr. Then we will see who is higher

I did the account setup, and the results actually showed up after an hour.
Tabasco
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Does this mean I have never had covid (I believe this to be true), but I am positive for antibodies from vaccine (I got Pfizer in February just after my first antibody test.

thirdcoast
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Interesting, over 5 times the spike protein as me who naturally got infected a year ago.

But the the N protein was negative where as I showed 44.3.

When did you get vaccine and which one?

The CDC says the N protein is "highly immunogenic and abundantly expressed". I wonder if that makes a difference? Or why the vaccine doesn't include it?

Tabasco
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first antibody test Feb 2, second May 2.

Pfizer 1: Jan 28, Pfizer 2: Feb. 19
BiochemAg97
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thirdcoast said:

Interesting, over 5 times the spike protein as me who naturally got infected a year ago.

But the the N protein was negative where as I showed 44.3.

When did you get vaccine and which one?

The CDC says the N protein is "highly immunogenic and abundantly expressed". I wonder if that makes a difference? Or why the vaccine doesn't include it?


Sequence and structure of Spike protein was known very early and vaccines were designed based on that info. Additionally, the spike protein undergoes a conformational (shape) change when it binds to the receptor. This gives a good target for neutralizing antibodies (they block binding or confirmation change).

I believe all the vaccines utilize a modified spike protein locked it into the initial confirmation to give a good target for developing neutralizing antibodies.

A mRNA vaccine with 2 protein targets is more complicated than a single protein target as it needs 2 different mRNAs. Also, the carrier virus vaccines (J&J and AZ) use the virus to carry a DNA coding for the protein into the cell. It would take more research to determine if you want a mix of 2 different viruses (1 each) of one virus carrying DNA coding for both proteins.
MiMi
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Quote:

Register here to register with an email and password
https://cpl.luminatehealth.com/common/signup

Then when you login it will prob take you to a page that says your results will be uploaded in 48 hrs. But they prob won't, so call 512-339-1275 give them your name DOB and they will uplaod your full results within an hr. Then we will see who is higher
Thanks. I had registered back in May and the same 48 hour message is still there. I'll call them in the morning and get them to upload my results.
Dilettante
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I'm not a doctor or an expert. Don't listen to me.

Those results make perfect sense. He got the vaccine which is only the spike and has antibodies to only the spike. You got the virus which has spike and nucleocapsid and more, and you have antibodies to both.

There are a lot of reasons why the spike protein is a better vaccine antigen than the nucleocapsid protein. The coronavirus particle is contained in a lipid bubble. The spike protein is on the surface, whereas the N protein is inside the bubble and therefore more shielded from circulating antibodies.

Here's some wild speculation which is probably all wrong: 1) N binds tightly to RNA and since your cells use RNA to make proteins, we might expect some serious toxicity from introducing N in high volumes. 2) N is extremely abundant, but that may not be a good thing. Antibodies often work by physically blocking the action of the molecule they're stuck to. The more N protein in the system, the more antibodies it takes to neutralize it all. So we would expect spike protein vaccines to be active at a lower dose. 3) It's not clear to me that the N protein would actually leave the cell on its own. Spike proteins are membrane proteins, so they have are displayed on the cell surface. N isn't.
thirdcoast
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If more N proteins required higher S proteins to combat covid, I would expect to see more than 1% reinfection rate in low S protein covid survivors.

Same goes for the lower titer study on the Delta thread. We should expect to see infection rates go up if those studies are accurate. At least that is what I'm basing my decision on to get vaccine. Seems like simplest indicator to my risk level and need for vaccine is reinfection rates.

I really lost a lot of faith over last year in medical community when we were told antibodies lasted 2 weeks, then 3 months, then 6 months....and now studies are saying it may be more effective for longer than vaccines. Many said we don't yet know, but most chose to say whatever would lead to increased vaccination participation.
Dilettante
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Quote:

If more N proteins required higher S proteins to combat covid, I would expect to see more than 1% reinfection rate in low S protein covid survivors.

I'm not sure what this means. I think you're probably seriously misunderstanding something important.
88planoAg
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My results page doesn't look exactly like the others, but here it is. The higher number is the more recent test. I had a minimal/mild case in December 2020, tested positive Dec 24. I haven't been vaccinated.

Tabasco
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I'm waiting on my wife to call that 512 number. We created her account, but after it got off the 48-hour page, it only shows the labs dashboard with no tests performed (She has had two antibody tests just like me). She had Mild case of covid in January, and then got both Pfizer's in (she got both because we see a ton of people face to face, and a two-week quarantine has has a substantial effect on income, so it's worth the risk/reward). I really want to see what a covid positive plus vaccine looks like.
thirdcoast
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So I think I'm going to see how my 2nd test results look, then get a vaccine before my 3rd results to see how low my levels drop then jump.

Tabasco (uninfected, vaccinated Jan/Feb 21')
S-1635

88Plano (infected Dec 20', unvaccinated)
S-977
N-78.9

Thirdc (infected Jun 20', unvaccinated)
S-228
N-44.3

Tabasco's wife gonna put us all to shame...

MiMi
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Just got access to my results in the CPL patient portal. First antibody test was negative in early Feb (in between doses 1&2) and was prior to the spike protein test being performed. Second blood draw was early May.

non-infected, Moderna vaccine Jan/Feb
S - 1577
N - 0
Tabasco
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I asked her a couple of times if she called that damn number, but she said she hasn't had time. I even mentioned texags was waiting. Not going to ask again, so I logged into her account myself and sent a ticket. I'm sure a call is much faster, but I'm not calling saying I am her... I don't mind emailing one though.
Tabasco
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exact same timeline as me, and results on par with mRNA vaccine(one pfizer, one moderna).
MiMi
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Quote:

I'm sure a call is much faster
Definitely. It took less than 30 minutes to show up. My street address had an error ( #@$! autofill) that prevented my user profile from matching to my test results.
Tabasco
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She finally just called and results posted 10 min later.

Tabasco Wife (Infected Jan '20/Vaccinated Mar' 20 Pfizer)

Feb 2 antibody (post covid, pre-vaccine):
S: (was not yet being measured)
N: 6

Mar 4 antibody (post covid, post vaccine 1 and 2)
S: >2500 (they stop measuring at 2500)
N: 36
Tabasco
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Just got my 3rd and final draw results (pulled yesterday at noon, just emailed the results... no text though). No covid history, pfizer x 2 in February.

As I posted results above for draw two... spike protein antibody was 1635. Draw three was 750 spike antibody. The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Total Antibodies value was still zero/negative, so I still have not contracted covid-19.

My wife, who as I posted above contacted covid in January and Pfizer x 2 in (not sure, but I posted it previously) in May), got her text for draw yesterday, but has not done it yet. Hopefully 3rdcoast will update the results, as it would be interesting to compare results.
MiMi
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Quote:

As I posted results above for draw two... spike protein antibody was 1635. Draw three was 750 spike antibody.
Looks like your spike antibody level is less than half the level from 3 months ago. I wonder what a good protective level needs to be?

I just got the text for my 3rd blood draw this afternoon. I'll have it done tomorrow and post the results when I get them. TBH, If it has decreased significantly, I'm going to be tempted to get a 3rd dose.
Forum Troll
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Enrolled today. Had Moderna in late Dec/Jan. Never have had COVID that I know of though I did have some very obvious taste issues for about a week in early Nov 2020. Interested to see what my antibody levels are.

This study should give some interesting info once its done.
Tabasco
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Forum Troll said:

Enrolled today. Had Moderna in late Dec/Jan. Never have had COVID that I know of though I did have some very obvious taste issues for about a week in early Nov 2020. Interested to see what my antibody levels are.

This study should give some interesting info once its done.
Do what third coast recommended and register for that site so you can see the actual numbers, vs. a vague text that just says positive or negative. "Spike protein" positive number is vaccine antibodies, and the other one is actual covid-19.
MiMi
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Quote:

This study should give some interesting info once its done.
Here is the link to the study dashboard where they update and post their preliminary results. I've been watching it for the past 3 months and it looks like they are only reporting natural antibody positive tests or they are not breaking down the positives into natural and spike protein (vaccine) positive groups. TXCARES Dashboard
 
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