{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T19:14:48Z","timestamp":1776194088179,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Journal of Infection in Developing Countries","issue":"03","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,31]],"date-time":"2026-03-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774915200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J Infect Dev Ctries"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is associated with the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and post-COVID syndrome (PCS). PSC has been linked to autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a condition characterized by chronic joint pain driven by dysregulated immune response. This study aims to evaluate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on patients with RA.\nMethods: A total of 300 RA patients were included in the study, categorized into two groups: patients with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection (n = 148) and without prior COVID-19 infection (control group; n = 152). Demographic information, comorbidities, treatments, autoantibodies, cell populations, and cytokines were assessed.\nResults: A majority of the patients included in this study were female. A high percentage of patients completed the COVID-19 vaccination schedule. The mean age at RA diagnosis was 44.71 years, with most patients presenting with low disease activity. Patients with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection reported headache, cough, and fatigue more often. A proportion of these symptoms persisted beyond 12 weeks, consistent with PCS. Autoantibody analysis revealed a high seropositivity rate in both groups, with no statistically significant differences related to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Similarly, the evaluation of immune system cell populations showed no significant variations between groups. Cytokine level analysis also demonstrated no statistically significant differences between cases and controls. However, IL-6 data were unavailable for 37% of participants.\nConclusions: Long-term follow-up did not demonstrate statistically significant alterations in the immunological profile of RA patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nevertheless, further prospective studies are required to elucidate potential long-term immunological effects in this population.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3855\/jidc.21520","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T18:24:38Z","timestamp":1776191078000},"page":"306-317","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Comparison of lymphocyte populations, cytokine, and autoantibody profile in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a study of cases with COVID-19 and controls without COVID-19"],"prefix":"10.3855","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0876-2523","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juli\u00e1n","family":"Arias-Aponte","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0906-7557","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriel E","family":"Acelas-Gonzalez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rafael","family":"Parra-Medina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3864-4920","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mar\u00eda L","family":"Monsalve-C\u00f3rdoba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3145-2440","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adriana","family":"Rojas-Villarraga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4211-5661","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paula D","family":"Nieto-Zambrano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0166-3167","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria C","family":"Cort\u00e9s-Osma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4327-3693","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hector F","family":"Restrepo-Guerrero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Villarreal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pedro","family":"Santos-Moreno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0708-875X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arley","family":"G\u00f3mez-L\u00f3pez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"2222","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,31]]},"container-title":["The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/download\/21520\/3838","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/download\/21520\/3838","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T18:24:38Z","timestamp":1776191078000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/view\/21520"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,31]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"03","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,31]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3855\/jidc.21520","relation":{},"ISSN":["1972-2680"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1972-2680","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,31]]}}}