Long COVID-19 autoantibodies and their potential effect on fertility.
Talamini, Laura, Fonseca, Dennyson Leandro M, Kanduc, Darja et al.·Frontiers in immunology·2025
This study looked at whether COVID-19 infection, especially long COVID, might trigger the body's immune system to attack its own reproductive cells through a process called molecular mimicry—where the virus shares similar protein patterns with cells involved in sperm production. Researchers found that people with long COVID, particularly women, developed antibodies (immune proteins) that reacted with viral proteins in ways that could potentially affect fertility. The findings suggest that some long COVID patients may develop autoimmune responses that target reproductive tissues, though more research is needed to understand if this actually causes fertility problems.