High frequency of neutralizing antibodies to type I Interferon in HIV-1 patients hospitalized for COVID-19

Mirko Scordio; Federica Frasca; Letizia Santinelli; Leonardo Sorrentino; Alessandra Pierangeli; Ombretta Turriziani; Claudio M Mastroianni; Guido Antonelli; Raphael P Viscidi; Gabriella d'Ettorre; Carolina Scagnolari

doi:10.1016/j.clim.2022.109068

High frequency of neutralizing antibodies to type I Interferon in HIV-1 patients hospitalized for COVID-19

Clin Immunol. 2022 Aug:241:109068. doi: 10.1016/j.clim.2022.109068. Epub 2022 Jun 25.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale di Porta Tiburtina n° 28, 00185 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: mirko.scordio@uniroma1.it.
² Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale di Porta Tiburtina n° 28, 00185 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: federica.frasca@uniroma1.it.
³ Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: letizia.santinelli@uniroma1.it.
⁴ Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale di Porta Tiburtina n° 28, 00185 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: leonardo.sorrentino@uniroma1.it.
⁵ Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale di Porta Tiburtina n° 28, 00185 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: alessandra.pierangeli@uniroma1.it.
⁶ Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale di Porta Tiburtina n° 28, 00185 Rome, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Sapienza University of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I of Rome, Viale Regina Elena, 324, 00161 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: ombretta.turriziani@uniroma1.it.
⁷ Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: claudio.mastroianni@uniroma1.it.
⁸ Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale di Porta Tiburtina n° 28, 00185 Rome, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Sapienza University of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I of Rome, Viale Regina Elena, 324, 00161 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: guido.antonelli@uniroma1.it.
⁹ Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1800 Orleans Street Baltimore, MD, United States. Electronic address: rviscid1@jhmi.edu.
¹⁰ Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: gabriella.dettorre@uniroma1.it.
¹¹ Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale di Porta Tiburtina n° 28, 00185 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: carolina.scagnolari@uniroma1.it.

Abstract

The presence of anti-IFN neutralizing antibodies (NAB) has been reported in critically ill COVID-19 patients. We found that 87.5% (7/8) of HIV-1 patients co-infected with SARS-CoV-2 had serum anti-IFN-I NAB against IFN-α subtypes, IFN-β and/or IFN-ω. Anti-IFN-I NAB were also detected in oropharyngeal samples. Patients with NAB were males, and those with high serum anti-IFN-α/ω NAB titer had severe illness and exhibited reduction in the expression of IFN-stimulated genes. Thus, high titer of anti-IFN-α/ω NAB may contribute to the greater severity of COVID-19 in HIV-1 infected patients.

Keywords: HIV-1; HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 co-infection; ISGs; Interferon; Neutralizing antibodies; SARS-CoV-2.

Publication types

Letter
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Neutralizing
Antibodies, Viral
COVID-19*
Female
HIV-1*
Humans
Interferon Type I*
Interferon-alpha / therapeutic use
Male
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

Antibodies, Neutralizing
Antibodies, Viral
Interferon Type I
Interferon-alpha