# Autoimmune responses associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2022 · $222,889

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Current research focuses on three important aspects of COVID-19 pandemic – therapy, vaccine and diagnostics.
Directing UPMC's Clinical Immune Diagnostic Laboratory, we understand the urgent need to initiate clinical
research that will allow us to assess and analyze potential deferred health outcomes in a population of recovered
COVID-19 patients. Although a robust immune response is associated with clinical recovery of most SARS-CoV-
2 infected patients, when a protective immune response is impaired or delayed, virus will propagate, and massive
destruction of the affected tissues will occur. Extensive tissue damage and release of autoantigens, especially if
associated with disproportionate systemic inflammation and cytokine storm, has been shown to dysregulate
peripheral immune tolerance and facilitate initiation of autoimmune pathways. Our working hypothesis that
COVID-19 recovered individuals are under increased risk of developing antibodies to self-antigen(s) is a high-
risk hypothesis with important clinical implications that will lay the groundwork for future mechanistic studies. To
test our hypothesis, we propose to: Determine if increased autoantibodies are associated with prior SARS-CoV-
2 infection by measuring prevalence of autoantibodies in patients with a history of COVID-19 infection. If our
hypothesis is confirmed, our data will provide the first evidence for the need to follow COVID-19 recovered
patients for the appearance of autoimmune antibodies and increased risk of systemic and tissue-specific
autoimmune diseases.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10373287
- **Project number:** 1R21AI159244-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Sarah E. Wheeler
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $222,889
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-04-19 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10373287

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10373287, Autoimmune responses associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection (1R21AI159244-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10373287. Licensed CC0.

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