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. 2023 Dec 19;11(1):ofad641.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad641. eCollection 2024 Jan.

Absence of Type I Interferon Autoantibodies or Significant Interferon Signature Alterations in Adults With Post-COVID-19 Syndrome

Martin Achleitner  1 , Nina K Mair  2   3 , Juliane Dänhardt  1 , Romina Kardashi  1 , Milo A Puhan  4 , Irene A Abela  2   5 , Nicole Toepfner  6 , Katja de With  7 , Waldemar Kanczkowski  1 , Natalia Jarzebska  1 , Roman N Rodionov  1 , Christine Wolf  6 , Min Ae Lee-Kirsch  6 , Charlotte Steenblock  1 , Benjamin G Hale  2 , Stefan R Bornstein  1   8   9
Affiliations

Absence of Type I Interferon Autoantibodies or Significant Interferon Signature Alterations in Adults With Post-COVID-19 Syndrome

Martin Achleitner et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Genetic defects in the interferon (IFN) system or neutralizing autoantibodies against type I IFNs contribute to severe COVID-19. Such autoantibodies were proposed to affect post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS), possibly causing persistent fatigue for >12 weeks after confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the current study, we investigated 128 patients with PCS, 21 survivors of severe COVID-19, and 38 individuals who were asymptomatic. We checked for autoantibodies against IFN-α, IFN-β, and IFN-ω. Few patients with PCS had autoantibodies against IFNs but with no neutralizing activity, indicating a limited role of type I IFNs in PCS pathogenesis. In a subset consisting of 28 patients with PCS, we evaluated IFN-stimulated gene activity and showed that it did not correlate with fatigue. In conclusion, impairment of the type I IFN system is unlikely responsible for adult PCS.

Keywords: COVID-19; autoantibodies; interferon; post–COVID-19 syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. All authors: No reported conflicts.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Autoantibodies against IFN-β. A, The prevalence of autoantibodies against IFN-β was measured in the plasma of patients: control (n = 38), PCS (n = 128), and severe COVID-19 (n = 21). B, The neutralization effect of autoantibodies against IFN-β in plasma from 3 patients with PCS (Nos. 1–3) vs negative control. IFN, interferon; PCS, post–COVID-19 syndrome.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Autoantibodies against IFN-ω. A, The prevalence of autoantibodies against IFN-ω was measured in the plasma of patients: control (n = 38), PCS (n = 128), and severe COVID-19 (n = 21). B, The neutralization effect of autoantibodies against IFN-ω in the plasma from 10 patients with PCS (Nos. 4–13) vs negative control. IFN, interferon; PCS, post–COVID-19 syndrome.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Correlation between ISG signature and fatigue. The ISG signature in a subset of 28 patients with PCS was plotted against the fatigue score measured by (A) VAS or (B) FACIT-F. Each point shows the ISG value and the fatigue value of an individual patient. The dotted line represents the correlation between the variables. r = Pearson correlation coefficient. ISG, interferon-stimulated gene; PCS, post–COVID-19 syndrome; VAS, visual analog scale.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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