TY - JOUR T1 - Cytokine autoantibodies in SARS-CoV-2 prepandemic and intrapandemic samples from an SLE cohort JF - Lupus Science & Medicine JO - Lupus Sci Med DO - 10.1136/lupus-2022-000667 VL - 9 IS - 1 SP - e000667 AU - May Y Choi AU - Ann Elaine Clarke AU - Katherine Buhler AU - Michelle Jung AU - Hannah Mathew AU - Meifeng Zhang AU - Francesca S Cardwell AU - Heather Waldhauser AU - Marvin J Fritzler Y1 - 2022/04/01 UR - http://lupus.bmj.com/content/9/1/e000667.abstract N2 - Cytokine autoantibodies, particularly those directed to type I interferon (T1IFN), have been reported to portend an increased risk of severe COVID-19. Since SLE is one of the conditions historically associated with T1IFN autoantibodies, we sought to determine the prevalence of cytokine autoantibodies in our local cohort of 173 patients with SLE prepandemic and intrapandemic, of which nine had confirmed exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Autoantibodies to 16 different cytokines, including T1IFN, were measured by an addressable laser bead immunoassay. None of the 9 patients with confirmed exposure to SARS-CoV-2 had autoantibodies to T1IFN and none had severe COVID-19 symptoms, necessitating hospitalisation. Hence, we could not confirm that TIIFN autoantibodies increase the risk for severe COVID-19. In addition, the cytokine autoantibody pattern did not differ between those with and without evidence of SARS-CoV-2 exposure. ER -