tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Clin Chem Lab Med
. 2022 Apr 28.
doi: 10.1515/cclm-2022-0239. Online ahead of print.
Patients with severe COVID-19 do not have elevated autoantibodies against common diagnostic autoantigens
Antigona Ulndreaj[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mingyue Wang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Salvia Misaghian[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Louis Paone[SUP] 2 [/SUP], George B Sigal[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Martin Stengelin[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Christopher Campbell[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Logan R Van Nynatten[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Antoninus Soosaipillai[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Atefeh Ghorbani[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Anu Mathew[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Douglas D Fraser[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Eleftherios P Diamandis[SUP] 1 5 6 7 [/SUP], Ioannis Prassas[SUP] 1 5 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Objectives: Infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents occasionally with an aberrant autoinflammatory response, including the presence of elevated circulating autoantibodies in some individuals. Whether the development of autoantibodies against self-antigens affects COVID-19 outcomes remains unclear. To better understand the prognostic role of autoantibodies in COVID-19, we quantified autoantibodies against 23 markers that are used for diagnosis of autoimmune disease. To this end, we used serum samples from patients with severe [intensive care unit (ICU)] and moderate (ward) COVID-19, across two to six consecutive time points, and compared autoantibody levels to uninfected healthy and ICU controls.
Methods: Acute and post-acute serum (from 1 to 26 ICU days) was collected from 18 ICU COVID-19-positive patients at three to six time points; 18 ICU COVID-19-negative patients (sampled on ICU day 1 and 3); 21 ward COVID-19-positive patients (sampled on hospital day 1 and 3); and from 59 healthy uninfected controls deriving from two cohorts. Levels of IgG autoantibodies against 23 autoantigens, commonly used for autoimmune disease diagnosis, were measured in serum samples using MSD[SUP]®[/SUP] U-PLEX electrochemiluminescence technology (MSD division Meso Scale Discovery[SUP]®[/SUP]), and results were compared between groups.
Results: There were no significant elevations of autoantibodies for any of the markers tested in patients with severe COVID-19.
Conclusions: Sample collections at longer time points should be considered in future studies, for assessing the possible development of autoantibody responses following infection with SARS-CoV-2.
Keywords: COVID-19; Intensive care unit (ICU); SARS-CoV-2; autoantibodies; autoimmunity; electrochemiluminescence; prognostic markers; severe disease.
. 2022 Apr 28.
doi: 10.1515/cclm-2022-0239. Online ahead of print.
Patients with severe COVID-19 do not have elevated autoantibodies against common diagnostic autoantigens
Antigona Ulndreaj[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mingyue Wang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Salvia Misaghian[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Louis Paone[SUP] 2 [/SUP], George B Sigal[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Martin Stengelin[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Christopher Campbell[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Logan R Van Nynatten[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Antoninus Soosaipillai[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Atefeh Ghorbani[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Anu Mathew[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Douglas D Fraser[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Eleftherios P Diamandis[SUP] 1 5 6 7 [/SUP], Ioannis Prassas[SUP] 1 5 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35475723
- DOI: 10.1515/cclm-2022-0239
Abstract
Objectives: Infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents occasionally with an aberrant autoinflammatory response, including the presence of elevated circulating autoantibodies in some individuals. Whether the development of autoantibodies against self-antigens affects COVID-19 outcomes remains unclear. To better understand the prognostic role of autoantibodies in COVID-19, we quantified autoantibodies against 23 markers that are used for diagnosis of autoimmune disease. To this end, we used serum samples from patients with severe [intensive care unit (ICU)] and moderate (ward) COVID-19, across two to six consecutive time points, and compared autoantibody levels to uninfected healthy and ICU controls.
Methods: Acute and post-acute serum (from 1 to 26 ICU days) was collected from 18 ICU COVID-19-positive patients at three to six time points; 18 ICU COVID-19-negative patients (sampled on ICU day 1 and 3); 21 ward COVID-19-positive patients (sampled on hospital day 1 and 3); and from 59 healthy uninfected controls deriving from two cohorts. Levels of IgG autoantibodies against 23 autoantigens, commonly used for autoimmune disease diagnosis, were measured in serum samples using MSD[SUP]®[/SUP] U-PLEX electrochemiluminescence technology (MSD division Meso Scale Discovery[SUP]®[/SUP]), and results were compared between groups.
Results: There were no significant elevations of autoantibodies for any of the markers tested in patients with severe COVID-19.
Conclusions: Sample collections at longer time points should be considered in future studies, for assessing the possible development of autoantibody responses following infection with SARS-CoV-2.
Keywords: COVID-19; Intensive care unit (ICU); SARS-CoV-2; autoantibodies; autoimmunity; electrochemiluminescence; prognostic markers; severe disease.