Abstract:
Following acute infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) a significant proportion of individuals develop prolonged symptoms, a serious condition termed post-acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) syndrome (PACS) or long COVID. Predictors of PACS are needed. In a prospective multicentric cohort study of 215 individuals, we study COVID-19 patients during primary infection and up to one year later, compared to healthy subjects. We discover an immunoglobulin (Ig) signature, based on total IgM and IgG3 levels, which – combined with age, history of asthma bronchiale, and five symptoms during primary infection – is able to predict the risk of PACS independently of timepoint of blood sampling. We validate the score in an independent cohort of 395 individuals with COVID-19. Our results highlight the benefit of measuring Igs for the early identification of patients at high risk for PACS, which facilitates the study of targeted treatment and pathomechanisms of PACS.
Source: Cervia C, Zurbuchen Y, Taeschler P, Ballouz T, Menges D, Hasler S, Adamo S, Raeber ME, Bächli E, Rudiger A, Stüssi-Helbling M, Huber LC, Nilsson J, Held U, Puhan MA, Boyman O. Immunoglobulin signature predicts risk of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. Nat Commun. 2022 Jan 25;13(1):446. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27797-1. PMID: 35078982. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27797-1 (Full text)