COVID-19, Autoimmunity and Vaccination Part 3

Posted on by Jesse Santiano, M.D.

This article dives deeper into the similarities between the proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the human body. These are important to know since these similarities can lead to autoimmune diseases during COVID-19 or following vaccination for COVID-19.

Autoimmune Disease associated with COVID-19

The COVID-19 illness caused the following autoimmune diseases in some patients.

  • Kawasaki-like multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C)
  • Gullain-Barrè Syndrome
  • Myositis or inflammation of the muscle
  • IgA Vasculitis with nephritis – a type of kidney disease
  • Membranous glomerulonephritis – a type of kidney disease
  • Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis – diseases affecting the blood vessels and connective tissues like the cartilages
  • Autoimmune hemolytic anemia – rupture of the red blood cells
  • Antiphospholipid syndrome – a disease that leads to abnormal blood clot formation
  • Autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) – very low platelet counts and abnormal clotting in the small blood vessels
  • Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) – low platelet counts that lead to bleeding.

Autoimmune diseases happen in COVID-19 when the immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus attacks the human proteins similar to the SARS-CoV-2. A condition called molecular mimicry.

from: Molecular Mimicry Map (3M) of SARS-CoV-2

The Molecular Mimicry Map Study

This article features a preprint study from the School of Life Sciences of the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) from South Korea.

The study focuses on the molecular mimicry between the SARS-CoV-2 and the human Major Histocompatibility Complex or MHC.

The Major Histocompatibility Complex

The MHC is a group of genes that code for proteins that helps the immune system recognize whether a protein is foreign or not.

If the protein is foreign or “non-self,” it is attacked and disposed of. If the protein is “self,” then no immune response is developed.

MHC is used for organ transplants to determine tissue compatibility. In humans, the MHCs produce the Human Leucocyte Antigen or HLA. The HLAs are also responsible for the regulation of the immune system.

How are MHCs Produced?

Whenever a white blood cell ingests a microbe like a virus, the viral proteins are processed by that cell. Then the proteins are expressed on their surface as MHCs.

An immune response develops towards those MHCs depending on the MCH class.

The B cells act on the MHC I molecules, and the T cells work on the MHC II cells.

B cells or B lymphocytes are part of the adaptive immune system and are responsible for producing antibodies against that specific germ.

The T cells or T lymphocytes directly kill infected host cells, activate other immune cells, and produce signaling proteins called cytokines that regulate other immune cells.

Both B and T cells are part of the adaptive immune system that generates a specific response to a particular infection.

Processing of a protein (a virus, for example), to be presented as MHC on the cell surface

How does the COVID-19 Vaccine work?

COVID-19 vaccine stimulates the adaptive immune system to generate immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

  1. The modified RNA of the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 is injected.
  2. The mRNA goes inside the cells.
  3. The RNA is used as a template to generate proteins very similar to the spike proteins of the SARS-CoV-2.
  4. Those spike proteins go to the human cells’ surface as MHC and the body and produce an adaptive immune response.

What did they do to find the identical proteins between the SARS-CoV-2 and humans?

The investigators of the Molecular Mimicry Map (3M) of SARS-CoV-2 used a library of several genetic variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Bioinformatics, proteonomics, and tons of math deduce how many human proteins are similar to the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

All in all, they used 8,138 SARS-CoV-2 genomes.  A genome is the complete set of genetic material in an organism.

Viruses frequently change or mutate. That explains why there are thousands of SARS-CoV-2 genomes.

The investigators found that the MHCs produced by SARS-CoV-2 can also generate B-cell responses against six human proteins and T cell responses against 285 human proteins.

A protein can be a cartilage or muscle, an enzyme, or a gene. An immune response to these proteins can result in inflammation or loss of that enzyme or gene’s function.

The findings are very concerning because the MHC sites that were produced in response to the SARS-CoV-2 can also be found in the following diseases:

  1. Rheumatoid arthritis
  2. Celiac Disease
  3. Psoriasis
  4. Ankylosing Spondylitis,
  5. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
  6. Type 1 diabetes
  7. Multiple Sclerosis
  8. Crohn’s disease
  9. Ulcerative Colitis
  10. Grave’s disease

That means a COVID-19 vaccine can potentially cause several autoimmune diseases. No long-term safety studies have been made to ensure that no autoimmune diseases can arise from the COVID-19 vaccines.

The tables below list the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) genes that have been associated with autoimmune diseases. This table is derived from a table compiled by Matzaraki and colleagues (Matzaraki et al., 2017).

In concluding their study, the authors recommend their free web-based
application “Molecular Mimicry Map (3M) of SARS-CoV-2” to make safer vaccines for COVID-19 that will not cause autoimmune diseases.

Knowledge about Covid-19 is rapidly evolving. Information may update as new studies are made. Stay current by subscribing. Feel free to share.

Don’t Get Sick!

Related readings:

  1. The Updated List of COVID-19 Articles
  2. Vitamin B1 or Thiamine in Infections
  3. The MATH+ Protocol Results in Greater Survival in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients
  4. Antibodies to COVID-19 can Exist in the Uninfected
  5. Sugar Increases Blood Pressure, Weight, Worsens Diabetes and COVID-19 Outcomes
  6. 30 Ways For a Good Sleep Without Drugs
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  10. 8 Ways Decent Dental Care Defies Dementia
  11. How to be Active from Sedentary
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References:

Hyunsu An, Jihwan Park. Molecular Mimicry Map (3M) of SARS-CoV-2: Prediction of potentially immunopathogenic SARS-CoV-2 epitopes via a novel immunoinformatic approach. bioRxiv 2020.11.12.344424; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.12.344424

Matzaraki, V., Kumar, V., Wijmenga, C., and Zhernakova, A. (2017). The MHC locus and genetic susceptibility to autoimmune and infectious diseases. Genome Biol 18, 76.

Image credits:

  1. Autoimmune diseases and COVID-19 from Molecular Mimicry Map (3M) of SARS-CoV-2: Prediction of potentially immunopathogenic SARS-CoV-2 epitopes via a novel immunoinformatic approach.
  2. MHC processing from Wikipedia by Scray

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