Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42421498›Full record

ReviewEuropean cytokine network2026

Xenosialylation as immunological chimerism: a host-centered unifying model for viral and post-vaccination immune complications.

Fiorella Carnevali, Maria Chiara Muollo, Lucia Biagini, Giacomo Rossi

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in European cytokine network, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Fiorella CarnevaliIndependent Researcher, Rome, Italy.
Maria Chiara MuolloSchool of Bioscience and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Macerata, Italy.
Lucia BiaginiSchool of Bioscience and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Macerata, Italy.
Giacomo RossiSchool of Bioscience and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Macerata, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Severe immune-mediated complications following viral infections and vaccinations, including COVID-19 and anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunization, display remarkable clinical overlap despite occurring in distinct biological contexts. In a previous hypothesis-driven work, we proposed that metabolic incorporation of the non-human sialic acid N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) into human glycoconjugates-defined as xenosialylation-may contribute to post-infectious and post-vaccination immune dysregulation. We further suggest that this phenomenon may represent a form of "immunological chimerism", in which host glycoconjugates incorporate non-self molecular structures that predispose the immune system to varying degrees of immune imbalance. In its most severe manifestation, this process may culminate in a profound state of immune dysregulation characterized by loss of immune tolerance, aberrant antibody responses, cytokine storm, and thrombo-inflammatory pathology, which we define as "immunological marasmus". In the present paper, we extend this conceptual framework by integrating glycobiology, Fc immunoglobulin glycosylation, endothelial biology, and sex-dependent immune regulation into a unified, testable immunopathogenic model. We hypothesize that interindividual differences in the extent, tissue distribution, and persistence of xenosialylation may influence susceptibility to exaggerated innate and adaptive immune responses following antigenic challenge. In this context, immune activation may unmask pre-existing xeno-sialylated self-structures embedded within host glycans, promoting varying degrees of glycan dysregulation, autoantibody production, immunothrombosis and chronic inflammatory sequelae. We further propose circulating anti-Neu5Gc antibodies as functional biomarkers for risk stratification and outline preventive strategies based on dietary modulation of xenosialic acid exposure. Taken together, this expanded model provides a potential mechanistic framework for understanding the shared immunological features of post-viral syndromes and vaccine-related adverse immune reactions, while offering a basis for experimental validation and future approaches to personalized risk mitigation.

Indexed as

COVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesModels, ImmunologicalSARS-CoV-2VaccinationAnimalsGlycosylationHumansNeuraminic AcidsCOVID-19 VaccinesNeuraminic Acidsanti-glycan antibodiesCOVID-19endothelial inflammationFc glycosylationimmune dysregulationimmune-mediated adverse eventslong COVIDNeu5Gcpost-infectious syndromesvaccine-associated adverse eventsXenosialylation

Identifiers

PMID42421498

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.