Severely ill COVID-19 patients have autoantibodies broadly directed not just against their tissues and organs but even against virus-fighting proteins produced by the immune system, new research shows. Scientists at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut studied 194 COVID-19 patients, including 55 with severe disease, plus a control group of 30 people without the virus. In the sickest patients, they found a high frequency of autoantibodies directed against the central nervous system, blood vessels, and connective tissues. They also found a high prevalence of autoantibodies that interfere with immunomodulatory proteins. "The surprising extent of autoantibody reactivities" in these patients indicates that these mistakenly targeted antibodies are "an intrinsic aspect" of COVID-19, researchers said in a report posted on medRxiv ahead of peer review. —Reuters Staff Source
