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Autoantibodies against chemokines post-SARS-CoV-2 infection correlate with disease course, 2023, Cavalli et al

Discussion in 'Long Covid research' started by John Mac, Apr 6, 2023.

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  1. John Mac

    John Mac Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Abstract
    Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 associates with diverse symptoms, which can persist for months. While antiviral antibodies are protective, those targeting interferons and other immune factors are associated with adverse coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes. Here we discovered that antibodies against specific chemokines were omnipresent post-COVID-19, were associated with favorable disease outcome and negatively correlated with the development of long COVID at 1 yr post-infection. Chemokine antibodies were also present in HIV-1 infection and autoimmune disorders, but they targeted different chemokines compared with COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies derived from COVID-19 convalescents that bound to the chemokine N-loop impaired cell migration. Given the role of chemokines in orchestrating immune cell trafficking, naturally arising chemokine antibodies may modulate the inflammatory response and thus bear therapeutic potential.

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-023-01445-w
     
    John Mac, Apr 6, 2023
    #1
    SNT Gatchaman, Peter Trewhitt, Lindberg and 1 other person like this.
  2. John Mac

    John Mac Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Blood differences in long Covid patients

    New research has found molecular signature differences in the blood of patients who fully recover from Covid-19 and those who develop long Covid.

    The study, which involved Cardiff University, examined blood samples from Covid-19 patients at different stages of the disease, including early stages and patients with long Covid. It highlighted major differences in the immune responses between those who recovered and those who developed long-term complications.

    Professor Bernhard Moser from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine who was part of the research team said: “A considerable number of patients infected with Sars-Covid-2 during the pandemic developed long Covid, a chronic inflammatory condition characterised by fatigue, muscle pain, shortness of breath and other symptoms.

    “The reason why some Covid-19 patients develop long Covid is currently not known but may be multi-factorial. Gaining insight into this disease at a molecular level may open avenues for treatment.”

    The research highlighted that long Covid patients showed differences in chemokines, a group of proteins secreted in response to Covid-19 that orchestrate inflammatory immune responses.

    Professor Moser said: “Our research showed that levels of chemokines were elevated in Covid-19 patients, contributing to the inflammation we see during Covid-19 infection. Importantly, we also found that Covid-19 patients produce auto-antibodies against chemokines.

    “In patients that recover from Covid-19, molecular analyses of these antibodies revealed that they neutralise the function of a set of chemokines, suggesting that they act against inflammation and contribute to disease resolution.

    “But in patients with long Covid, auto-antibodies that work against three distinct types of chemokines are missing, suggesting that lack of their production contributes to chronic inflammation underpinning long Covid.

    “This study shows that the molecular signature in blood differs between patients who fully recover from Covid-19 and patients who develop the chronic inflammatory condition associated with long Covid. Auto-antibodies for certain chemokines are beneficial for Covid-19 patients in that they seem to prevent the development of long Covid.”

    https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2713678-blood-differences-in-long-covid-patients
     
    John Mac, Apr 6, 2023
    #2
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  3. Hutan

    Hutan Moderator Staff Member

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    I was initially a bit excited about this paper - I liked the idea of it. But I don't think there is much here. A lot of the paper is actually comparing people who had been infected with Covid with never infected healthy controls.

    Selection of Long Covid cohort
    Although it talks quite a lot about Long covid, the people with Long Covid seem to be:

    Lugano group - 71 participants
    Of the 63 participants assessed at 12 months, 41 were assessed as having Long Covid

    Milan group - 44 participants
    None assessed for Long Covid

    Zurich group - 107 participants
    Of the 104 participants assessed at 13 months, 35 had more than one symptom, but I couldn't find a table with Long covid numbers for Zurich.

    76 people with Long Covid at 12 or 13 months out of a sample of 167 people infected with Covid doesn't seem credible to me. Having one symptom clearly isn't distinguishing debilitating ME/CFS-like illness.
     
    Hutan, Apr 6, 2023
    #3
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  4. Hutan

    Hutan Moderator Staff Member

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    Location:
    Aotearoa New Zealand
    Screen Shot 2023-04-07 at 12.22.41 am.png

    These are the main findings relevant to Long Covid.

    In the first panel of a.
    This is just for the Lugano cohort for some reason. The No long covid is at 12 months, but the Long covid is at 6 months. I don't know why. The story is that the levels of chemokine autoantibodies in the No LC group are protective, neutralising the inflammatory chemokines. But then why wouldn't you compare those levels with the 6 month levels of the LC group? Also, lumping all the chemokine autoantibodies into one measure doesn't seem a very good idea, as they do different things.


    The charts for b are of the levels of autoantibodies to specific chemokines. For some reason, the controls aren't included in these charts. Again the No LC data is from month 12, while the LC data is from month 6, which makes no sense to me. I don't know which cohorts the data is from.

    And yes, it does look like there are statistically significant differences, and so those chemokines are ones to keep an eye on. But the differences aren't really that great; there's a lot of overlap. And these must be the three chemokine autoantibodies out of the 43 that gave the most impressive results. That said, with the loose LC definition, probably it's not surprising that there is a lot of overlap.
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2023
    Hutan, Apr 6, 2023
    #4
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  5. Creekside

    Creekside Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    When results are showing small differences, they may be due to differences in how the people's days differ. If you have long covid, you feel ill, so you may sleep worse, eat differently, be less active, etc. It's hard to separate those differences. The same experiment with "sick with common cold" vs "not sick" might show similar differences.

    Having long covid might have long-term effects on life choices. Victims might be subconsciously trying to avoid future infections or other health problems. Reducing exposure to common viruses and bacteria might cause measurable changes in the immune systems. Just too many possible factors to get excited about some small differences found in one study.
     
    Creekside, Apr 6, 2023
    #5
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