A new report suggests that COVID-19 patients have increased autoantibodies, resulting in an increased risk of severe early and long COVID-19 symptoms. Autoantibodies represent a misdirection of our natural immune response towards “self” tissue.
Researchers from Yale School of Medicine tested 194 SARS-CoV-2 infected patients for autoantibodies and found a dramatic increase in autoimmune reactivity compared to those without COVID-19. This was targeted at immune-regulating proteins, such as cytokines, chemokines, complement components, and cell surface proteins – leading to an attack on the body’s own immune system instead of fighting off the virus. In addition, the report suggests this diverse autoantibody response could contribute to long COVID and is also associated with inflammatory markers such as ferritin, CRP, and lactate in COVID-19 patients.
This is very interesting, thank you for publishing. The headline states that autoantibodies “caused by Covid19” increase risk. What about the presence of autoantibodies caused by pre-existing conditions like Lupus and other autoimmune disorders? Would that potentially suggest the same increased risk? I realize there are no definite answers here–just pondering. Thank you.
To clarify, I believe your question is whether COVID19 posses an increased risk for those with preexisting autoimmune conditions – it’s believed that infection by SARS-CoV2 might aggravate or trigger autoimmune response in those with a history or on the continuum for developing autoimmune disease. Of course, we’re still learning about this novel virus.