Autoimmunity as the comet tail of COVID-19 pandemic

Rossella Talotta; Erle Robertson

doi:10.12998/wjcc.v8.i17.3621

Autoimmunity as the comet tail of COVID-19 pandemic

World J Clin Cases. 2020 Sep 6;8(17):3621-3644. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i17.3621.

Authors

Rossella Talotta¹, Erle Robertson²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Rheumatology Unit, AOU "Gaetano Martino", University of Messina, Messina 98100, Italy. talotta1@virgilio.it.
² Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19014, United States.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can give rise to different clinical manifestations that are directly related to viral tissue damage or indirectly induced by the antiviral immune response. Hyper-activation of the immune system in an attempt to eradicate the infection may trigger autoimmunity. Several immune-mediated disorders have been described in SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals. These include cutaneous rashes and vasculitis, autoimmune cytopenia, anti-phospholipid syndrome, central or peripheral neuropathy, myositis and myocarditis. On the other hand, rheumatic patients were reported to have similar coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) incidence, morbidity and mortality rates compared to general population. This opinion review will summarize the crucial immunologic steps which occur during SARS-CoV-2-infection that may link autoimmunity to COVID-19 and provides an opportunity for further discussion regarding this association.

Keywords: Autoimmune diseases; Autoimmunity; COVID-19; Host-virus interaction; Rheumatic diseases; SARS-CoV-2.

Publication types

Review