ArticleBrain, behavior, and immunity2021
High frequency of cerebrospinal fluid autoantibodies in COVID-19 patients with neurological symptoms.
Article in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 161 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
161 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 261 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical Spectrum of Anti-SEZ6L2 Syndrome: A Case Report With Brain Volumetry and Systematic Literature Review.Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2026Pooled it
- Post-COVID Syndrome.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2023Pooled it
- Cerebrospinal fluid analysis in patients with COVID-19-associated central nervous system manifestations: a systematic review.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2022Pooled it
- Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and COVID-19: A systematic synthesis of worldwide cases.Journal of neuroimmunology · 2021Pooled it
- A Comprehensive Systematic Review of CSF analysis that defines Neurological Manifestations of COVID-19.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Absence of autoantibodies linked to cancer and autoimmune disorders 26 weeks after BNT162b2 boosting in CoronaVac- primed individuals.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2026Article
- Pre-vaccine sentinel antibodies predict blunted vaccine responses.Cell press blue · 2026Article
- Coronavirus disease 2019-associated encephalitis and concomitant subdural hematoma: a case report.Journal of medical case reports · 2026Article
- Tissue-specific autoantibody signatures reveal immune alterations undetected by routine serology in long COVID.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Neurocognitive Aging Following Acute Illness: Pathobiology and a Framework for Developing Neurotherapeutic Agents.Brain and behavior · 2026Review
- Article
- Reduced Hospital Incidence of Autoimmune Encephalitis During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Pathogenic IgG from long COVID patients with neurological sequelae triggers sensitive but not cognitive impairments upon transfer into mice.Acta neuropathologica · 2026Article
- Long COVID is associated with female sex; Anti-NCAM1 autoantibodies are absent in patients with long COVID.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2025Article
- Autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders manifesting with psychosis.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2025Review
- Social anxiety disorder and antibodies against glial cells in the cerebrospinal fluid.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Neuroimmune pathophysiology of long COVID.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2025Review
- SARS-CoV2 infection triggers inflammatory conditions and astrogliosis-related gene expression in long-term human cortical organoids.Stem cells (Dayton, Ohio) · 2025Article
- Modulator of VRAC Current 1 Is a Potential Target Antigen in Multiple Sclerosis.Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2025Article
- Cerebromicrovascular mechanisms contributing to long COVID: implications for neurocognitive health.GeroScience · 2025Review
101 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
17 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCOVID-19 intensive care patients can present with neurological syndromes, usually in the absence of SARS-CoV-2 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The recent finding of some virus-neutralizing antibodies cross-reacting with brain tissue suggests the possible involvement of specific autoimmunity.
designBlood and CSF samples from eleven critically ill COVID-19 patients presenting with unexplained neurological symptoms including myoclonus, oculomotor disturbance, delirium, dystonia and epileptic seizures, were analyzed for anti-neuronal and anti-glial autoantibodies.
resultsUsing cell-based assays and indirect immunofluorescence on unfixed murine brain sections, all patients showed anti-neuronal autoantibodies in serum or CSF. Antigens included intracellular and neuronal surface proteins, such as Yo or NMDA receptor, but also various specific undetermined epitopes, reminiscent of the brain tissue binding observed with certain human monoclonal SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. These included vessel endothelium, astrocytic proteins and neuropil of basal ganglia, hippocampus or olfactory bulb.
conclusionThe high frequency of autoantibodies targeting the brain in the absence of other explanations suggests a causal relationship to clinical symptoms, in particular to hyperexcitability (myoclonus, seizures). Several underlying autoantigens and their potential molecular mimicry with SARS-CoV-2 still await identification. However, autoantibodies may already now explain some aspects of multi-organ disease in COVID-19 and can guide immunotherapy in selected cases.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.