Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I interferons (IFN-I) underlie various life-threatening viral infections, and the prevalence of these auto-Abs rises sharply between 65 and 70 years of age. We investigated the familial aggregation of neutralizing IFN-I auto-Abs by assessing concordance rates in Danish older twins, including 3,270 twins aged 65-96 years in a sample comprising 1,318 intact twin pairs (2,636 individuals) and 634 twins from broken twin pairs (634 individuals). Neutralizing IFN-I auto-Abs were detected in 1.5% (50/3,270) of all twins tested, including 1.4% (37/2,636) in twins from intact pairs and 2.1% (13/634) in twins from broken pairs. A total of 50 twins had neutralizing IFN-I auto-Abs, including one concordant monozygotic pair and 35 discordant pairs, yielding a low overall concordance rate. A slight, but nonsignificant, increase in mortality was associated with harboring neutralizing IFN-I auto-Abs. Collectively, these findings do not reveal any familial aggregation of IFN-I auto-Abs, arguing against a strong germline genetic etiology of IFN-I auto-Abs in older adults.
Source: Journal of Human Immunity
Institutions: University of Southern Denmark, Aarhus University, Aarhus University Hospital, Inserm, Université Paris Cité, Institut des Maladies Génétiques Imagine, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Language: English
Subfield: Immunology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funders: St. Giles Foundation, Aarhus Universitet, Fondation du Souffle, Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l'Innovation, Institut des maladies génétiques Imagine, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, Lundbeckfonden, Novo Nordisk, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Frimodt-Heineke Fonden, National Institutes of Health, Sundhedsvidenskabelige Fakultet, Aarhus Universitet, Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, CHIST-ERA
Awards: G1110395396, G1418548345, G1942173203, G1979782309, G2143835637, G2370001381, G250961418, G2606182891, G282427092, Genetic predisposition and anti-IFN autoantibodies underlying severe influenza., G2939690567, G3012682726, G3178764514, G3196005199, G3340235128, G3458322075, Center for immunology of viral infections (CiViA), G369303397, G3904258988, Inborn errors of immunity underlying severe viral infection of the brainstem, G484130661, G5078222589, G513837726, G5296751580, G5369299101, G5485624415, G5568984734, G5757396261, G6218361667, G6224498365, G6603456033, G7838947372, G802414740, G8670608220, Developing, Demonstrating, and Disseminating Innovative Programs to Achieve Translational Success, Inborn errors of immunity in patients with life-threatening COVID-19, G967415208
OpenAlex ID: W7221128107