Many factors impact the onset and progression of infectious and autoimmune diseases within a given population, and the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the health disparities experienced within susceptible communities, revealing poor disease outcomes and high mortality. Reported differences in infectious disease outcomes of different demographic groups have mostly highlighted environmental and socioeconomic factors as the presumed primary drivers. In this study, circulating IgG levels reactive to proteins from eight different viruses and 20 self-antigens from cohorts of 100 and 40 subjects were compared, respectively. Subjects within the cohorts were stratified by demographic differences, including race, sex, age, HIV status, and date of sample collection (pre- vs. during the COVID-19 pandemic). Across all subjects, EBV-specific IgG was highest, on average, as compared to antibody levels reactive with all other viruses. Black/AA participants possess higher anti-EBV GP 350, lower anti-Sm, and higher anti-CENP-B antibodies as compared to white individuals, the former indicating that viral reactivation is more frequent in minority populations and may lead to impaired cellular immunity. Females exhibited a higher level of SARS-CoV-2 wildtype (WT) spike and anti-proteinase 3 IgG than male counterparts. Anti-viral OC43, Flu, and EBV IgG were higher and the autoimmune antibodies anti-Sm and anti-C1q lower in older individuals compared with younger counterparts. In ART-suppressed HIV+ individuals, eCoV and CMV-reactive IgG was lower and EBV antibody levels higher compared with uninfected participants; and antibodies to CMV and proteinase 3 were higher in samples collected after the start of the pandemic as compared to earlier time points. To investigate links between virus-specific IgG and autoantibodies within subjects, linear regression and Spearman’s correlation tests were performed on the collected dataset. Ribosomal P autoantibody levels positively correlated EBV GP 350-specific antibodies, and CENP-B and CMV-specific IgG tracked positively as well. Also, CMV- and EBV- specific antibody levels were positively associated with one another. Further examination of these trends is required to define links between chronic infections and predisposition to certain autoimmune diseases. Overall, these results illuminate novel serological information among differing demographics to provide new insight into drivers of health disparities and association between chronic infections (i.e. EBV, CMV) and autoimmune diseases.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/47438 |
| Date | 03 November 2023 |
| Creators | Ayuso, Maria Jose |
| Contributors | Snyder-Cappione, Jennifer, Browning, Jeffrey L. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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