Abstract:
To investigate Long COVID Syndrome (LCS) pathophysiology, we performed an exploratory study with blood plasma derived from three groups: 1) healthy vaccinated individuals without SARS-CoV-2 exposure; 2) asymptomatic recovered patients at least three months after SARS-CoV-2 infection and; 3) symptomatic patients at least 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection with chronic fatigue syndrome or similar symptoms, here designated as Long COVID Syndrome (LCS) patients.
Multiplex cytokine profiling indicated slightly elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in recovered individuals in contrast to LCS patients. Plasma proteomics demonstrated low levels of acute phase proteins and macrophage-derived secreted proteins in LCS. High levels of anti-inflammatory oxylipins including omega-3 fatty acids in LCS were detected by eicosadomics, whereas targeted metabolic profiling indicated high levels of anti-inflammatory osmolytes taurine and hypaphorine, but low amino acid and triglyceride levels and deregulated acylcarnithines. A model considering alternatively polarized macrophages as a major contributor for these molecular alterations is presented.
Source: Kovarik JJ, Bileck A, Hagn G, Meier-Menches SM, Frey T, Kaempf A, Hollenstein M, Shoumariyeh T, Skos L, Reiter B, Gerner MC, Spannbauer A, Hasimbegovic E, Schmidl D, Garhöfer G, Gyöngyösi M, Schmetterer KG, Gerner C. A multi-omics based anti-inflammatory immune signature characterizes Long COVID Syndrome. iScience. 2022 Dec 5:105717. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105717. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36507225; PMCID: PMC9719844. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9719844/ (Full text)