Fig. 3
Associations between anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses and system-specific long COVID symptoms. Protection associations are represented in green balloons and risk associations in red balloons. A) Protection associations found exclusively for vital organ-related symptoms. Differential anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody profiles and neutralizing antibody detection (VNT ≥ 20) were associated with protection against several system-stratified LC symptoms. B) Risk associations were observed for LC symptoms classified as general or other. Overall, risk and protection associations were balanced for LC development or specific LC symptoms. ORL: Otorhinolaryngological LC symptoms, Gastro: gastrointestinal LC symptoms, Neuro: neurological LC symptoms, T1: the first timepoint in our study, during early convalescence, approximately 40 days following COVID-19 onset. T2: the second timepoint in our study, at approximately 6 months following COVID-19 onset; T3: the third timepoint in our study, at approximately 1 year following COVID-19 onset. RBD: receptor-binding domain from the spike protein, NP: nucleocapsid protein, VNT: virus neutralization titer. VNT titers ≥ 20 were considered positive for neutralizing antibodies. All the identified differential antibody profiles showed p values < 0.05. The statistical tests used were: (i) for detection frequency, chi-square or Fisher tests; (ii) for antibody level analyses, Mann‒Whitney tests; and (iii) for correlation analyses, Spearman correlation test.
