Patients Suffering From Post-COVID-19 Syndrome Feature Enhanced Antibody Reactivity Towards Specific Linear Epitopes...

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Virology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) presents diverse symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
• Potential triggers include latent virus reactivation and autoimmunity.
• Humoral immunity alterations are suspected in PCS pathogenesis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate IgG antibody reactivity against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) EBNA1 antigen in PCS patients.
• To compare antibody profiles between PCS patients and fully recovered COVID-19 convalescents (CC).
• To identify potential immunological markers distinguishing PCS.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cross-sectional study comparing 48 PCS patients and 48 CC individuals.
• Peptide microarray and ELISA used to analyze IgG antibody reactivity against EBV EBNA1.
• Screening for autoantibodies against various antigens performed.

Main Results:

• PCS patients showed significantly stronger IgG reactivity against specific EBNA1 epitopes (residues 90-325 and 405-419) compared to CC.
• No significant differences in autoantibody prevalence or reactivity were observed between groups.
• Elevated antibody levels against specific EBNA1 linear peptides were the most distinctive feature in PCS patients.

Conclusions:

• Distinct IgG antibody responses to specific EBV EBNA1 peptides characterize post-COVID-19 syndrome.
• These findings suggest a potential role for EBV reactivation or altered immune response in PCS.
• Further research is warranted to explore the mechanistic link between EBV immunity and Long COVID.