Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
Some Long COVID patients experience persistent neurological symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties, which may be connected to autoimmune reactions, NIH-funded researchers report. Autoantibodies—antibodies that mistakenly target the body's own tissues—were found in some Long COVID patients, potentially contributing to these symptoms.
Researchers from Yale University School of Medicine and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai analyzed antibodies from the blood of 147 individuals. They found that antibodies from Long COVID patients and recovered individuals reacted more frequently with human nervous system tissue compared to healthy controls. Certain autoantibodies were linked to specific symptom patterns; for example, those targeting the locus coeruleus were associated with loss of taste and smell, nausea, and joint pain.
To investigate causality, antibodies from Long COVID patients were injected into mice. The mice exhibited symptoms similar to those of the patients, including increased pain sensitivity, signs of nerve damage, balance instability, and decreased stamina. This suggests that autoantibodies may directly contribute to neurological symptoms in some Long COVID cases.
The study, published in Cell, points to a possible role of the immune system in sustaining neurological symptoms of Long COVID and may inform future treatment strategies targeting autoantibody activity.