NFKB2 haploinsufficiency identified via screening for IFN-α2 autoantibodies in children and adolescents hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2-related complications.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-2023
Identifier
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2022.11.020; PMCID: PMC9733962
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Autoantibodies against type I IFNs occur in approximately 10% of adults with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The frequency of anti-IFN autoantibodies in children with severe sequelae of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is unknown.
OBJECTIVE: We quantified anti-type I IFN autoantibodies in a multicenter cohort of children with severe COVID-19, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), and mild SARS-CoV-2 infections.
METHODS: Circulating anti-IFN-α2 antibodies were measured by a radioligand binding assay. Whole-exome sequencing, RNA sequencing, and functional studies of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were used to study any patients with levels of anti-IFN-α2 autoantibodies exceeding the assay's positive control.
RESULTS: Among 168 patients with severe COVID-19, 199 with MIS-C, and 45 with mild SARS-CoV-2 infections, only 1 had high levels of anti-IFN-α2 antibodies. Anti-IFN-α2 autoantibodies were not detected in patients treated with intravenous immunoglobulin before sample collection. Whole-exome sequencing identified a missense variant in the ankyrin domain of NFKB2, encoding the p100 subunit of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain enhancer of activated B cells, aka NF-κB, essential for noncanonical NF-κB signaling. The patient's peripheral blood mononuclear cells exhibited impaired cleavage of p100 characteristic of NFKB2 haploinsufficiency, an inborn error of immunity with a high prevalence of autoimmunity.
CONCLUSIONS: High levels of anti-IFN-α2 autoantibodies in children and adolescents with MIS-C, severe COVID-19, and mild SARS-CoV-2 infections are rare but can occur in patients with inborn errors of immunity.
Journal Title
The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology
Volume
151
Issue
4
First Page
926
Last Page
930
Keywords
Anti-interferon autoantibody; COVID-19; MIS-C; NFKB2; inborn errors of immunity
Recommended Citation
Bodansky A, Vazquez SE, Chou J, et al. NFKB2 haploinsufficiency identified via screening for IFN-α2 autoantibodies in children and adolescents hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2-related complications. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2023;151(4):926-930.e2. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2022.11.020
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