Persistent IgG anticardiolipin autoantibodies are associated with post-COVID syndrome

Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Dec:113:23-25. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.09.079. Epub 2021 Oct 3.

Abstract

Persistence of various symptoms in patients who have recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was recently defined as 'long COVID' or 'post-COVID syndrome' (PCS). This article reports a case of a 58-year-old woman who, although recovering from COVID-19, had novel and persistent symptoms including neurological complications that could not be explained by any cause other than PCS. In addition to a low inflammatory response, persistence of immunoglobulin G anticardiolipin autoantibody positivity and eosinopenia were found 1 year after acute COVID-19 infection, both of which have been defined previously as independent factors associated with the severity of COVID-19. The pathophysiological mechanism of PCS is unknown, but the possibility of persistence of the virus, especially in the nervous system, could be suggested with a post-infectious inflammatory or autoimmune reaction.

Keywords: COVID-19; anticardiolipin antibodies; antiphospholipid antibodies; long COVID syndrome; post-COVID syndrome.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Anticardiolipin*
  • Autoantibodies
  • COVID-19* / complications
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Middle Aged
  • Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome
  • SARS-CoV-2

Substances

  • Antibodies, Anticardiolipin
  • Autoantibodies
  • Immunoglobulin G