Early and Rapid Identification of COVID-19 Patients with Neutralizing Type I Interferon Auto-antibodies.

Akbil, Bengisu; Meyer, Tim; Stubbemann, Paula; Thibeault, Charlotte; Staudacher, Olga; Niemeyer, Daniela; Jansen, Jenny; Mühlemann, Barbara; Doehn, Jan; Tabeling, Christoph; Nusshag, Christian; Hirzel, Cédric; Sanchez, David Sökler; Nieters, Alexandra; Lother, Achim; Duerschmied, Daniel; Schallner, Nils; Lieberum, Jan Nikolaus; August, Dietrich; Rieg, Siegbert; ... (2022). Early and Rapid Identification of COVID-19 Patients with Neutralizing Type I Interferon Auto-antibodies. Journal of clinical immunology, 42(6), pp. 1111-1129. Springer 10.1007/s10875-022-01252-2

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PURPOSE

Six to 19% of critically ill COVID-19 patients display circulating auto-antibodies against type I interferons (IFN-AABs). Here, we establish a clinically applicable strategy for early identification of IFN-AAB-positive patients for potential subsequent clinical interventions.

METHODS

We analyzed sera of 430 COVID-19 patients from four hospitals for presence of IFN-AABs by ELISA. Binding specificity and neutralizing activity were evaluated via competition assay and virus-infection-based neutralization assay. We defined clinical parameters associated with IFN-AAB positivity. In a subgroup of critically ill patients, we analyzed effects of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) on the levels of IFN-AABs, SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and clinical outcome.

RESULTS

The prevalence of neutralizing AABs to IFN-α and IFN-ω in COVID-19 patients from all cohorts was 4.2% (18/430), while being undetectable in an uninfected control cohort. Neutralizing IFN-AABs were detectable exclusively in critically affected (max. WHO score 6-8), predominantly male (83%) patients (7.6%, 18/237 for IFN-α-AABs and 4.6%, 11/237 for IFN-ω-AABs in 237 patients with critical COVID-19). IFN-AABs were present early post-symptom onset and at the peak of disease. Fever and oxygen requirement at hospital admission co-presented with neutralizing IFN-AAB positivity. IFN-AABs were associated with lower probability of survival (7.7% versus 80.9% in patients without IFN-AABs). TPE reduced levels of IFN-AABs in three of five patients and may increase survival of IFN-AAB-positive patients compared to those not undergoing TPE.

CONCLUSION

IFN-AABs may serve as early biomarker for the development of severe COVID-19. We propose to implement routine screening of hospitalized COVID-19 patients for rapid identification of patients with IFN-AABs who most likely benefit from specific therapies.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Intensive Care, Emergency Medicine and Anaesthesiology (DINA) > Clinic of Intensive Care
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Haematology, Oncology, Infectious Diseases, Laboratory Medicine and Hospital Pharmacy (DOLS) > Clinic of Infectiology

UniBE Contributor:

Hirzel, Cédric, Spinetti, Thibaud, Schefold, Jörg Christian

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

1573-2592

Publisher:

Springer

Language:

English

Submitter:

Pubmed Import

Date Deposited:

06 May 2022 09:26

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 16:19

Publisher DOI:

10.1007/s10875-022-01252-2

PubMed ID:

35511314

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Autoantibodies COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Type I interferon

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/169767

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/169767

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