학술논문
Detection of Antinuclear Antibodies Targeting Intracellular Signal Transduction, Metabolism, Apoptotic Processes and Cell Death in Critical COVID-19 Patients.
Document Type
Article
Author
Nasarallah, Gheyath K.; Fakhroo, Aisha D.; Khan, Taushif; Cyprian, Farhan S.; Al Ali, Fatima; Ata, Manar M. A.; Taleb, Sara; Zedan, Hadeel T.; Al-Sadeq, Duaa W.; Amanullah, Fathima H.; Hssain, Ali A.; Eid, Ali H.; Abu-Raddad, Laith J.; Al-Khal, Abdullatif; Al Thani, Asmaa A.; Marr, Nico; Yassine, Hadi M.
Source
Subject
*CONVALESCENT plasma
*COVID-19
*ANTINUCLEAR factors
*CELL death
*AUTOIMMUNE diseases
*CELLULAR signal transduction
*THYROID crisis
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Language
ISSN
2035-3006
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The heterogeneity of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) lies within its diverse symptoms and severity, ranging from mild to lethal. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a leading cause of mortality in COVID-19 patients, characterized by a hyper cytokine storm. Autoimmunity is proposed to occur as a result of COVID-19, given the high similarity of the immune responses observed in COVID-19 and autoimmune diseases. Here, we investigate the level of autoimmune antibodies in COVID-19 patients with different severities. Results: Initial screening for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) IgG using ELISA revealed that 1.58% (2/126) and 4% (5/126) of intensive care unit (ICU) COVID-19 cases expressed strong and moderate ANA levels, respectively. An additional sample was positive with immunofluorescence assays (IFA) screening. However, all the non-ICU cases (n=273) were ANA negative using both assays. Samples positive for ANA were further confirmed with largescale autoantibody screening by phage immunoprecipitation-sequencing (PhIP-Seq). The majority of the ANA-positive samples showed "speckled" ANA pattern by microscopy and revealed autoantibody specificities that targeted proteins involved in intracellular signal transduction, metabolism, apoptotic processes, and cell death by PhIP-Seq; further denoting reactivity to nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens. Conclusion: Our results further support the notion of routine screening for autoimmune responses in COVID-19 patients, which might help improve disease prognosis and patient management. Further, results provide compelling evidence that ANA-positive individuals should be excluded from being donors for convalescent plasma therapy in the context of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]