SARS‐CoV‐2 infection as a trigger of humoral response against apolipoprotein A‐1
Background Unravelling autoimmune targets triggered by SARS‐CoV‐2 infection may provide crucial insights into the physiopathology of the disease and foster the development of potential therapeutic candidate targets and prognostic tools. We aimed at determining (a) the association between anti‐SARS‐C...
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Published in | European journal of clinical investigation Vol. 51; no. 11; pp. e13661 - n/a |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Oxford
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.11.2021
John Wiley and Sons Inc |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Background
Unravelling autoimmune targets triggered by SARS‐CoV‐2 infection may provide crucial insights into the physiopathology of the disease and foster the development of potential therapeutic candidate targets and prognostic tools. We aimed at determining (a) the association between anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 and anti‐apoA‐1 humoral response and (b) the degree of linear homology between SARS‐CoV‐2, apoA‐1 and Toll‐like receptor 2 (TLR2) epitopes.
Design
Bioinformatics modelling coupled with mimic peptides engineering and competition experiments were used to assess epitopes sequence homologies. Anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 and anti‐apoA‐1 IgG as well as cytokines were assessed by immunoassays on a case‐control (n = 101), an intensive care unit (ICU; n = 126) and a general population cohort (n = 663) with available samples in the pre and post‐pandemic period.
Results
Using bioinformatics modelling, linear sequence homologies between apoA‐1, TLR2 and Spike epitopes were identified but without experimental evidence of cross‐reactivity. Overall, anti‐apoA‐1 IgG levels were higher in COVID‐19 patients or anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 seropositive individuals than in healthy donors or anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 seronegative individuals (P < .0001). Significant and similar associations were noted between anti‐apoA‐1, anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 IgG, cytokines and lipid profile. In ICU patients, anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 and anti‐apoA‐1 seroconversion rates displayed similar 7‐day kinetics, reaching 82% for anti‐apoA‐1 seropositivity. In the general population, SARS‐CoV‐2‐exposed individuals displayed higher anti‐apoA‐1 IgG seropositivity rates than nonexposed ones (34% vs 16.8%; P = .004).
Conclusion
COVID‐19 induces a marked humoral response against the major protein of high‐density lipoproteins. As a correlate of poorer prognosis in other clinical settings, such autoimmunity signatures may relate to long‐term COVID‐19 prognosis assessment and warrant further scrutiny in the current COVID‐19 pandemic. |
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Bibliography: | Funding information This study was funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, Swiss School of Public Health (Corona Immunitas research programme), the Fondation de Bienfaisance du Groupe Pictet, the Fondation Ancrage, the Fondation Privée des HUG, the Center for Emerging Viral Diseases, the De Reuter (grant No. 657) and the Schmidheiny Foundation ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0014-2972 1365-2362 |
DOI: | 10.1111/eci.13661 |