COVID-19 is reported to cause autoimmunity in patients. To understand its impact further, researchers from Canada evaluated the presence of autoantibodies in COVID-19 patients for up to one year after infection. Study Participants Convalescent COVID-19 patients with fatigue, dyspnea, and cough Patients with other respiratory infections Healthy controls Measured anti-nuclear and extractable-nuclear autoantibodies (ANAs & ENAs) using immunoassays Findings Two or more autoantibodies were detected in about 80% of COVID-19 patients after three and six months of infection.
After one year of infection, autoantibodies were detected in 41% of patients. U1-snRNP and anti-SS-B/La autoantibodies were found to be associated with sustained fatigue and dyspnea. Pro-inflammatory molecules, including TNFα, D-dimer, IL-1β, and C-reactive protein, were found along with ANAs at 12 months No autoantibodies…
