Back Understanding Autoimmune Disease
Understanding Autoimmune Disease
Back Resources for Hope and Health
Resources for Hope and Health
Back Autoimmune Research & News
Autoimmune Research & News
Back Who We Are & How We Help
Who We Are & How We Help
an icon of a microscope, indicating research and science
Research Grants
& Projects

Autoantibodies Linked to Long COVID Neurological Symptoms

As COVID-19 continues to circulate, more individuals are being diagnosed with long COVID. This increasing incidence highlights the need to understand the causes and develop treatment options for the symptoms patients are experiencing. A landmark preprint article on medRxiv, titled “A causal link between autoantibodies and neurological symptoms in long COVID,” suggests that autoantibodies are likely responsible for some of these symptoms.

In this study, scientists isolated serum from patients with a high burden of neurological long COVID symptoms (nLC), recovered patients, and uninfected controls. Through a series of experiments, they compared these samples and found that nLC patients have more autoantibodies that bind to proteins within the central nervous system, spinal cord, and lining of the brain. When autoantibodies bind to tissues it can cause inflammation and damage and could be causing the symptoms in these patients. 

To verify that these autoantibodies could contribute to the symptoms, the scientists transferred serum from patients into mice. The mice that received nLC serum exhibited noticeable differences, including increased pain sensitivity, dizziness, and loss of balance and coordination. These signs were similar to the donor-reported symptoms. Further investigation revealed that these mice developed evidence of peripheral nerve damage, specifically small fiber neuropathy.

This study makes a significant contribution to the field by demonstrating that COVID-19 infection can lead to the development of autoantibodies, supporting the theory that at least some patients with long COVID are experiencing autoimmunity. However, more research is needed because this study focused only on patients with neurological symptoms. Further work is required to determine if autoantibodies also contribute to the development of non-neurological symptoms. 

Citation:

Santos Guedes de Sa, K., et al. (2024). A causal link between autoantibodies and neurological symptoms in long COVID. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2024.06.18.24309100. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.06.18.24309100