Some Covid-19 patients are attacked by their own immune system – new studies explain why

Edited by Zakiyah Ebrahim
|Health24

43 minutes ago

• In a new study, researchers investigated the production of antibodies by the Covid-19 immune system.
• They found that autoantibodies target tissues in some patients and cause severe Covid-19 disease.
• Researchers encourage testing patients after Covid-19 recovery

Some people are at increased risk for severe Covid-19, a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. According to recent studies, the production of self-reactive antibodies may explain why this happens.

Study published on preprint server medRxivExplains that instead of targeting disease-causing microorganisms, these immune proteins, called autoantibodies, target tissues in patients suffering from severe Covid-19 while waiting for peer reviews. To do.

Researchers explained that their findings have potential implications for both acute patient care and infection recovery.

Description of autoantibodies

Harvard Health Autoantibodies attack several different parts of the body, causing inflammation and tissue damage to the joints, skin, kidneys, nervous system (brain and spinal cord), blood, heart, and more.

More than this, they can attach to the body’s chemicals and form abnormal molecules (known as “immune complexes”) that cause additional inflammation when deposited on body organs and tissues. ..

Previous research In the early stages of the pandemic, it was found that abnormal blood coagulation in Covid-19 patients was likely to lead to complications and admission to the Intensive Care Room (ICU).

In a recent study, four researchers found that these autoantibodies play a role in the dangerous blood clots formed in these Covid-19 patients, and more recently, an important element of viral immune defense. It emphasizes that it is also known to inactivate many. Of patients with severe Covid-19.

Research authors at the Loance Human Immunology Center at Emory University, Georgia, have previously investigated immune responses that contribute to autoantibody production in autoimmune disorders such as lupus. Lupus is thought to occur when the human body’s immune system accidentally attacks body tissues. And recently a serious case of Covid-19.

Autoantibodies are usually associated with specific disease types, said Matthew Woodruff, lead author, instructor at the Lawrence Center for Human Immunology, University of Emory. conversation..

According to Woodruff, for example, lupus patients often have antibodies that target their DNA, whereas patients with rheumatoid arthritis, who have autoimmune disorders, are unlikely to contain those antibodies. However, it is likely to show a positive test for rheumatic factors – antibodies that target other antibodies.

What the researchers did

For their study, the team analyzed the charts of 52 Covid-19 patients in the ICU (no one was reported to have a history of autoimmune disease). However, patients were tested for autoantibodies found in a range of disorders during infection.

More than half of the 52 patients are positive for autoantibodies, and in patients with the highest levels of c-reactive protein (marker of inflammation) in the blood, more than two-thirds are immune to produce the attacking antibody Turned out to have a system their own organization.

“Importantly, we believe that the autoreactive response identified here is unique to SARS-CoV-2 infection. There is no reason to believe that vaccination against the virus would expect similar results.” Writes Woodruff.

Dig a little deeper

Although the results of the study are enlightening, they note that their data do not reveal specific information such as how much these autoantibodies contribute to the most serious symptoms of Covid-19. ..

The author’s greatest concern is that these reactions can be self-persistent in some patients, leading to the emergence of new, permanent autoimmune diseases.

However, we are proposing a self-reactivity test. This is because it may help researchers understand whether some cases of “long-distance” Covid-19 are associated with autoantibody persistence.

If this turns out to be the case, there is positive news. These patients may respond to the same immune-targeted therapies that were successful in pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), for which autoantibody production has been reported.

Originally named Pediatric Multisystem Syndrome (PMS), MIS-C describes a relatively new health condition found in children infected with the Covid-19 virus. Previously reported Health24..

“Finally, by examining patients shortly after Covid-19’s recovery, we set a baseline and began tracking the likelihood of new cases of autoimmunity following this horrific disease, as early as necessary. Rheumatoid intervention can be planned, “Woodruff wrote.

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