Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with life-threatening COVID-19

Bastard P., Rosen L. B., Zhang Q., Michailidis E., Hoffmann H., Zhang Y., ...More

SCIENCE, vol.370, no.6515, pp.423-435, 2020 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 370 Issue: 6515
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Doi Number: 10.1126/science.abd4585
  • Journal Name: SCIENCE
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aerospace Database, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Animal Behavior Abstracts, Applied Science & Technology Source, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), Artic & Antarctic Regions, ATLA Religion Database, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Communication Abstracts, Computer & Applied Sciences, EBSCO Education Source, EMBASE, Environment Index, Gender Studies Database, Geobase, Linguistic Bibliography, MEDLINE, Metadex, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Pollution Abstracts, Psycinfo, Public Affairs Index, Sociological abstracts, Veterinary Science Database, zbMATH, DIALNET, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.423-435
  • Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University Affiliated: No

Abstract

Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-omega (IFN-omega) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-alpha (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for lifethreatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men.