SARS-CoV-2 Infection Triggers Auto-Immune Response in ARDS
Pablo Juanes‐Velasco, Alicia Landeira‐Viñuela, Marina L. García‐Vaquero, Quentin Lécrevisse, Raquel Herrero, Antonio Ferruelo, Rafael Góngora, Fernando J. Corrales, Javier De Las Rivas, José A. Lorente, Ángela‐Patricia Hernández, Manuel Fuentes
Abstract
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe pulmonary disease, which is one of the major complications in COVID-19 patients. Dysregulation of the immune system and imbalances in cytokine release and immune cell activation are involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here, the inflammatory, antigen, and auto-immune profile of patients presenting COVID-19-associated severe ARDS has been analyzed using functional proteomics approaches. Both, innate and humoral responses have been characterized through acute-phase protein network and auto-antibody signature. Severity and sepsis by SARS-CoV-2 emerged to be correlated with auto-immune profiles of patients and define their clinical progression, which could provide novel perspectives in therapeutics development and biomarkers of COVID-19 patients. Humoral response in COVID-19 patients' profile separates with significant differences patients with or without ARDS. Furthermore, we found that this profile can be correlated with COVID-19 severity and results more common in elderly patients.