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Identifying Neurological Autoantibodies in COVID-19: mGluR2 as a Marker of Immune Dysregulation During the Omicron Outbreak in China
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  • Ziyan Wu,
  • Siyuan Fan,
  • Honglin Xu,
  • Futai Feng,
  • Zhan Li,
  • Linlin Cheng,
  • Haolong Li,
  • Yongmei Liu,
  • Haoting Zhan,
  • Xinxin Feng,
  • Siyu Wang,
  • Shulan Zhang,
  • Yongzhe Li
Ziyan Wu
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
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Siyuan Fan
Peking Union Medical College Hospital Department of Neurology
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Honglin Xu
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
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Futai Feng
National Clinical Research Center for Dermatologic and Immunologic Diseases
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Zhan Li
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
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Linlin Cheng
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
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Haolong Li
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
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Yongmei Liu
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
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Haoting Zhan
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
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Xinxin Feng
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
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Siyu Wang
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
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Shulan Zhang
National Clinical Research Center for Dermatologic and Immunologic Diseases

Corresponding Author:shulanpumch@126.com

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Yongzhe Li
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
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Abstract

Aimed to comprehensively investigate the presence of neural autoantibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma of COVID-19 patients experiencing neurological complications during the Omicron wave in China. Forty consecutive COVID-19 patients with severe neurological complications and 15 disease controls (DC) were enrolled in the study. Neural autoantibodies were detected using both the indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) on mouse brain tissue and the Brain-neuronal-antigen microarray. A bioinformatics analysis was conducted to evaluate the similarity between SARS-CoV-2 proteins and the specific antigens identified by the microarray. Our results showed a markedly elevated prevalence of neural autoantibodies in CSF (62.16% vs. 0.0%) and in plasma of COVID-19 patients compared to DC using IFA. Additionally, we identified 12 upregulated intrathecal IgG autoantibodies with differential levels between COVID-19 patients and DC, as well as 51 upregulated IgG autoantibodies in plasma. Anti-mGluR2 antibodies exhibited the highest positivity rate in COVID-19 patients, a finding further confirmed by cell-based assays (CBA). Moreover, we discovered a shared peptide similarity between the SARS-CoV-2 N, S protein and mGluR2. Among two COVID-19 patients with positive anti-mGluR2 antibodies, there were specific and prominent bindings to both the RBD-Fc of S and mGluR2, while only weak binding was observed to N.
08 Nov 2024Submitted to Journal of Medical Virology
09 Nov 2024Submission Checks Completed
09 Nov 2024Assigned to Editor
09 Nov 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
18 Nov 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned