Abstract:
With an estimated 65 million individuals suffering from Long COVID, validated therapeutic strategies as well as non-invasive biomarkers are direly needed to guide clinical management. We used blood digital transcriptomics in search of viral persistence and Long COVID diagnostic biomarkers in a real-world, general practice-based setting with a long clinical follow-up.
We demonstrate systemic SARS-CoV-2 persistence for more than 2 years after acute COVID-19 infection. A 2-gene biomarker, including SARS-CoV-2 antisense RNA, correctly classifies Long COVID with 93.8% sensitivity and 91.7% specificity. Specific immune transcripts and immunometabolism score correlate to systemic viral load and patient-reported anxiety/depression, providing mechanistic links as well as therapeutic targets to tackle Long COVID.
Source: Soraya Maria MENEZES, MARC JAMOULLE, Maria P Carletto, Bram Van Holm, Leen Moens, Isabelle Meyts, Piet Maes, Johan Van Weyenbergh. Blood transcriptomics reveal persistent SARS-CoV-2 RNA and candidate biomarkers in Long COVID patients. medRxiv 2024.01.14.24301293; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.14.24301293 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.14.24301293v1 (Full text available as PDF file)