Work by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles using Oncimmune Holdings PLC (AIM:ONC)’s COVID-19 autoantibody profiling panel has yielded some intriguing results that provide a better understanding of how coronavirus affects male and female sufferers.
Firstly, the researchers found that infection triggered a broad autoantibody response that can last well beyond the initial infection and recovery phase, even among individuals who were only mildly affected or had no symptoms at all.
In fact, the team found the immune system was still activated for up to six months after the illness.
They further discovered that a wide array of autoantibodies remained elevated, including those linked to conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
The autoimmune diseases cited above traditionally affect women more than men. The research, however, found men were more affected by the long-term impact of Covid than women.
The data were presented in a paper carried by the Journal of Translational Medicine. Importantly, the study is the first to report the presence of elevated autoantibodies after mild or asymptomatic infection and their persistence over time.
Oncimmune chief executive, Dr Adam Hill, said: "As the life science industry continues to work intensely to research and respond to the effects of COVID-19, and specifically to understand the immune system response to the disease, we are delighted to see this publication that further validates the ImmunoINSIGHTS infectious diseases panel and contributes to the knowledge base so that clinical outcomes from the disease can improve."