Long COVID Atlas › Glossary › Autoantibody
ImmunologyAutoantibody
https://longcovidatlas.org/glossary/autoantibody
In plain language
What it is
An antibody that mistakenly targets the body's own tissue instead of a germ.
Why it matters
In long COVID, some autoantibodies switch the body's own receptors on or off, which can disturb blood pressure, heart rate, and more.
Think of it like
A friendly-fire signal: the body's own defense aimed at the wrong target.
For specialists
Formal definition
Immunoglobulin directed against self-antigens; functional autoantibodies against G-protein-coupled receptors can act as agonists or antagonists.
Mechanism
Receptor-directed autoantibodies may drive autonomic and vascular dysfunction; prevalence is high in some cohorts but causation is still being established.
Sources
- Functional autoantibodies targeting GPCRs in long-COVID (PMC12294817) free full text ›