High prevalence of false positive SARS-CoV2 serology in a cohort of patients with liver autoimmune diseases

Aim Monitoring the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) immunization in patients with autoimmune diseases is of particular concern to understand their response to the infection and to the vaccine. In fact, the immunological disorder and the immunosuppressive therapies could affect the serological response. SARS-CoV2 serological tests potentially provide this information, although they were rapidly commercialized with internal verifications. Here, we analysed the seroprevalence to SARS-CoV2 in a cohort of patients with liver autoimmune diseases. Methods From May to December 2020, a cohort of patients affected by primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and PBC/AIH overlap syndrome were screened with (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) RT-PCR of nasopharyngeal swabs, rapid antigenic test and chemiluminescent serological test during routine follow-up. Results The analysis of 42 patients was carried out: 18 (42.85%) PBC, 12 (28.57%) AIH and 12 (28.57%) PBC/AIH overlap syndromes. Only 2 patients (4.76%) resulted positive to the RNA, antigen and antibody detection tests, hence affected by SARS-CoV2 infection. 14 subjects out of 40 negative cases presented a positive serology for SARS-CoV2 antibodies, hence with a false positivity in the 35% of cases without infection. Among these, 6 (42.86%) patients presented only immunoglobulin (Ig)M positivity, 6 (42.86%) patients presented positivity for only IgG and 2 (14.28%) patients were positive to both IgM and IgG. Notably, the presence of autoantibodies did not correlate with the serological false positivity, highlighting that there is no cross-reactivity with autoantibodies. The presence of polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia did not interfere with the serological test as well. Interestingly, the patients with false positive serology showed higher levels of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Conclusions Patients with liver autoimmune diseases present a high rate of false positive SARS-CoV2 serology. Therefore, new strategies are needed to study the serological response in this patient category

Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure – ACTRIS, the European research infrastructure supporting atmospheric science

International audienceThe Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS) officially became the 33 rd European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) on April 25, 2023 with the support of 17 founding member and observer countries. As a pan-European legal organization, ACTRIS ERIC will coordinate the provision of data and data products on short-lived atmospheric constituents and clouds relevant to climate and air pollution over the next 15-20 years. ACTRIS was designed more than a decade ago, and its development was funded at national and European levels. It was included in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) Roadmap in 2016 and subsequently, in the national infrastructure roadmaps of European countries. It became a landmark of the ESFRI roadmap in 2021. The purpose of this paper is to describe the mission of ACTRIS, its added value to the community of atmospheric scientists, providing services to academia as well as the public and private sectors, and to summarize its main achievements. The present publication serves as a reference document for ACTRIS, its users and the scientific community as a whole. It provides the reader with relevant information and an overview on ACTRIS governance and services, as well as a summary of the main scientific achievements of the last 20 years. The paper concludes with an outlook on the upcoming challenges for ACTRIS and the strategy for its future evolution