Those who were infected with COVID-19 sometimes continue to experience symptoms that last for months to years. This ongoing health condition is called Long COVID. Although Long COVID continues to be a mystery, we are slowly beginning to understand more about the disease as new research has identified antibodies associated with Long COVID symptoms.
A study led by Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine, discovered that transferring Long COVID antibodies from patients to healthy mice caused symptoms like heightened pain sensitivity, poor balance, and reduced strength. This discovery supports the idea that Long COVID involves autoimmune dysfunctions
Researchers first isolated antibodies from the blood samples of Long COVID patients from the Mount Sinai-Yale Long COVID study. After injecting these antibodies into different lab mice, researchers found that 85% of the mice that showed increased pain sensitivity had received antibodies from patients who reported pain as one of their Long COVID symptoms. They also found that 89% of mice that showed poor balance had received antibodies from patients who reported dizziness. This discovery suggests that treatments targeting autoimmunity may help in reducing symptoms in Long COVID patients through the removal of disease-causing antibodies. Although more research needs to be done, this breakthrough will help advance Long COVID research in hopes of finding a cure.
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