When researchers gave healthy mice antibodies from patients with #Long #COVID, some of the animals began showing Long COVID symptoms
—specifically heightened pain sensitivity and dizziness.

It is among the first studies to offer enticing evidence for the #autoimmunity #hypothesis.

The research was led by #Akiko #Iwasaki, PhD, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine (YSM).

“We believe this is a big step forward in trying to understand and provide treatment to patients with this subset of Long COVID,” Iwasaki said.

Iwasaki zeroed in on autoimmunity in this study for several reasons.

First, Long COVID’s persistent nature suggested that a chronic triggering of the immune system might be at play.

Second, women between ages 30 and 50, who are most susceptible to autoimmune diseases, are also at a heightened risk for Long COVID.

Finally, some of Iwasaki’s previous research had detected heightened levels of antibodies in people infected with SARS-CoV-2.

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/antibodies-from-long-covid-patients-provide-clues-to-autoimmunity-hypothesis