Specific anti-staphylococcal enterotoxin B IgE levels in intensive care COVID-19 patients

A significant number of studies on coronaviruses have demonstrated that certain regions of the spike (S) protein of the virus responsible for the recent pandemic bear a structural resemblance to enterotoxin B (SEB) secreted by Staphylococcus aureus. This similarity is particularly noteworthy in light of the superantigenic property of SEB, which has been observed to lead to severe clinical manifestations following severe inflammation, resulting in multi-system inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in children and cytokine storms in adults at risk. In light of this information, the present study investigated whether there was a difference in the specific anti-SEB IgE antibody levels in serum samples taken from 46 patients who were hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 50 blood donors from the just before pandemic period. The study concluded that the increase in specific anti-SEB IgE antibody levels in ICU patients was statistically significant. This finding supports an immunological interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and pre-existing anti-SEB immune responses, possibly due to molecular mimicry or cross-reactivity; however, it should be evaluated as hypothesis-forming rather than causal interpretation. Study signifies the inaugural investigation of its kind in our country.