Low Prevalence of Interferon alpha Autoantibodies in People with Long COVIDMichael J. Peluso, Anthea Mitchell, Chung Yu Wang, Saki Takahashi, Rebecca Hoh, Viva Tai, Matthew S. Durstenfeld, Priscilla Y. Hsue, J. Daniel Kelly, Jeffrey N. Martin,Michael R. Wilson, Bryan Greenhouse, Steven G. Deeks, Joseph L. DeRisi, and Timothy J. Henrich
JID 2023 Abstract: Interferon (IFN)-specific autoantibodies have been implicated in severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and have been proposed as a potential driver of the persistent symptoms characterizing long COVID, a type of post acute sequelae of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. We report that only 2 of 215 participants with convalescent SARS-CoV-2 infection tested over 394 time points, including 121 people experiencing long COVID symptoms, had detectable IFN-α2 antibodies. Both had been hospitalized during the acute phase of the infection. These data suggest that persistent anti-IFN antibodies, although a potential driver of severe COVID-19, are unlikely to contribute to long COVID symptoms in the post acute phase of the infection.
