Scientists have identified which immune cells appear to produce the misdirected antibodies that show up in some people after a COVID-19 infection, and the pathway they describe overlaps with one already familiar to researchers who study lupus.
The finding is mechanistic rather than clinical. It does not mean COVID causes lupus, and it does not change how anyone is diagnosed or treated today. What it offers is a specific biological explanation for something clinicians have observed since early in the pandemic without being able to account for.
