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Amy Proal, PhD Profile picture
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18 Nov, 4 tweets, 3 min read
For this new @polybioRF podcast I interviewed Dr. Liisa Selin, professor of pathology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Listen on an App like Spotify (open.spotify.com/episode/5rdB0G…) or watch on youtube ()
2/ Liisa talks about her work as a #viral immunologist, and how her team recently got an NIH grant to study the role of viral infection and T-cell exhaustion in #ME/CFS. She discusses existing data on the topic and how the research may also inform the #LongCovid disease process
3/ Liisa and team are fundraising to further extend their research to LongCovid. Donate here to support her efforts: classy.org/fundraiser/321…
4/ Also, Liisa discusses an antioxidant-based therapeutic that her team thinks cld help mitigate T cell exhaustion in #ME/CFS + #LongCovid. They are seeking private donors to support a clinical trial of the therapeutic in collaboration with Dr. Nancy Klimas

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More from @microbeminded2

Amy Proal, PhD Profile picture
26 Sep
In our recent review on #LongCovid/PASC we bring up the possibility that dysbiosis or imbalance of host #microbiome communities (in ecosytems such as the gut, lungs, or oral cavity) might contribute to at least some LongCovid symptoms: frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…
2/ More specifically immune dysregulation driven by #SARS-CoV-2 might allow pathobionts (bacteria capable of both commensal + virulent acitivty) in the gut, mouth, or other body sites to collectively shift towards a state of imbalance + pro-inflammatory gene/metabolite expression
3/ Conversely, b/c composition + activity of the microbiome can influence host susceptibility and ongoing control of #viral pathogens, exisiting microbiome dysbiosis in a range of body sites may serve as a form of predisposition to LongCovid
Read 11 tweets
Amy Proal, PhD Profile picture
17 Sep
Sometimes I hear people dismiss the possible role of a persistent #pathogen (such as a herpesvirus) in the development of a chronic #disease b/c the same pathogen can be found in healthy people
2/ I see it differently 👉 While the presence/absence of a persistent pathogen in a patient with chronic symptoms matters, the real question is: what is the pathogen doing? Is its ACTIVITY different in patients vs. healthy people?
3/ More specifically, in the #patient with chronic symptoms is the pathogen expressing different #proteins/metabolites? And are these proteins/metabolites increasingly interfering with human gene expression, metabolism, and the immune response?
Read 5 tweets
Amy Proal, PhD Profile picture
12 Sep
I’ve seen some people tweet that #coronaviruses might not be capable of persistence. But over the past decades, coronavirus RNA/protein has been identified in a range of human samples after acute illness, and sometimes connected to chronic disease
2/ For example, this team found coronavirus RNA and/or antigen in both plaque + non-plaque areas of brainstem, cortex, and spinal cord samples obtained from patients with MS: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… Image
3/ This team identified a range of DNA/RNA viruses in tissue samples obtained from healthy humans at autopsy. Coronavirus 229-E was found in brain, thyroid, heart, lung, stomach, adrenal gland, skin and blood samples: bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11… Image
Read 11 tweets
Amy Proal, PhD Profile picture
29 Jun
It’s important to acknowledge that vaccinated people can acquire/transmit the Delta variant. While vaccinated individuals should experience less severe acute #COVID-19, they may still be at risk for LongCovid/PASC (which has been shown to develop after asymptomatic/mild COVID-19)
2/ For example, this team reported a range of long-term symptoms in a cohort of previously confirmed or presumed COVID-19 patients whose acute symptoms were largely managed without the need for hospitalization: medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
3/ This preprint documented persistent COVID-19 symptoms in 1,407 subjects with confirmed #SARS-CoV-2 infection. ∼32% of subjects reporting symptoms at 61+ days after infection were asymptomatic at the time of initial SARS-CoV-2 testing: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33688670/
Read 5 tweets
Amy Proal, PhD Profile picture
23 Jun
@MBVanElzakker and I are excited that our new paper on biological factors that may contribute to the development of LongCovid/PASC was published today: frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…
2/ The paper details mechanisms by which RNA #viruses beyond just #SARS-CoV-2 have be connected to long-term health consequences.
3/ It also reviews literature on acute #COVID-19 and other virus-initiated chronic syndromes such as post-#Ebola syndrome or #ME/CFS to discuss different scenarios for #LongCovid/#PASC symptom development.
Read 10 tweets
Amy Proal, PhD Profile picture
15 Jun
In a meeting I watched today, microglia priming was mentioned in #LongCovid and #ME/CFS. It’s important to clarify what “microglia priming” means. Microglial priming does not mean that after a trigger has “cleared” microglia remain perpetually activated
2/ Instead, microglia priming goes like this 👉 When microglia or other glial cells detect #infection, injury, or inflammatory mediators, they enter a state of activation in which they change morphology and release their own neuroexcitatory inflammatory mediators
3/ Then, after activating, they retain a “primed” functional state which causes an even more robust response to *subsequent* infectious/immune/#inflammatory challenges. And as cells, microglia live long lives (they are not replaced as often as many other cell types)
Read 13 tweets

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