Characterization of the humoral response to SARS-CoV-2, the etiological agent of COVID-19, is essential to help control the infection. The neutralization activity of plasma from COVID-19 patients decreases rapidly during the first weeks after recovery. However, the specific role of each immunoglobulin isotype in the overall neutralizing capacity is still not well understood.

In this study, it was selected plasma from a cohort of COVID-19 convalescent patients and selectively deplete immunoglobulin A, M or G before testing the remaining neutralizing capacity of the depleted plasma.

Depletion of immunoglobulin M is associated with the most substantial loss of virus neutralization, followed by immunoglobulin G.

This observation may help design efficient antibody-based COVID-19 therapies and may also explain the increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 of autoimmune patients receiving therapies that impair the production of IgM.