Increased Rheumatoid Factor production in patients with severe COVID-19

• Published in: Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease Vol. 109; no. 3; p. 116284
• Main Authors: Elghali, Mourad, Bannour, I, Touil, I, Changuel, M, Brahem, Y, Jaoued, O, Boudawara, N, Amor, H Ibn Hadj, Elatrous, S, Knani, J, Sakly, N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.07.2024
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Covid-19; COVID-19 - diagnosis; COVID-19 - immunology; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Humans; Immunoglobulin A - blood; Immunoglobulin G - blood; Immunoglobulin M - blood; Infection; Male; Middle Aged; Rheumatoid factor; Rheumatoid Factor - blood; SARS-CoV-2 - immunology; Severity of Illness Index; Tunisia - epidemiology; Viruses; Tunisia; Infection; Rheumatoid factor; Viruses; Covid-19
• ISSN: 0732-8893; 1879-0070
• DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2024.116284

Searching for Rheumatoid Factors (RF) in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has rarely been described. To investigate the association between RF isotypes (IgM, IgA, and IgG) and different clinical presentations of COVID-19 in a series of Tunisian patients. Eighty-two COVID-19 patients were enrolled in this study. Symptomatic cases were recruited from the Department of COVID-19 and the intensive care unit (ICU) of the University Hospital of Mahdia, Tunisia, from January 2021 to March 2021. Different RF isotypes were assessed using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Forty-one patients (50%) had RF of any isotype. Thirty-two patients (39%) were tested positive for RF-IgM. Symptomatic forms of the disease were associated with RF-IgM positivity (p = 0.005). The mean concentration of RF-IgM was higher in the severe form than in the moderate and asymptomatic forms (p = 0.006). Our study suggests that the production of RF-IgM isotype is increased in patients with severe COVID-19.