Prevalence of Neutralizing Autoantibodies Against Type I Interferon in a Multicenter Cohort of Severe or Critical COVID-19 Cases in Shanghai

We sought to explore the prevalence of type I interferon-neutralizing antibodies in a Chinese cohort and its clinical implications during the Omicron variant wave of SARS-CoV-2. Type I interferon (IFN) autoantibodies possessing neutralizing capabilities were identified using luciferase assays. The capacity of the autoantibodies for in vitro interference with antiviral activity of IFN was assessed by using a SARS-CoV-2 replicon system. An analysis of the demographic and clinical profiles of patients exhibiting neutralizing antibodies was also conducted. In this cohort, 11.8