We are happy to share our hypothesis paper describing a potential mechanism that could underpin #LongCovid’s many symptoms.

This mechanism could have significant implications for the millions of Long Covid sufferers around the world.

Link: frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…

Research has shown that SARS-CoV-2 can infect cells throughout the body, causing persistent tissue damage and dysregulated inflammation (including clotting). This impairs blood flow in the microvasculature leading to hypoxia.
frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…

We hypothesize that this hypoxia, combined with virus-induced changes in cellular metabolism, increases anaerobic respiration. This results in excess acid that can disrupt the acid-base balance throughout the body, causing further tissue damage and body system dysregulation.

Together, the tissue damage, inflammation, hypoxia and acid-base disruption can cause the many symptoms of #LongCovid.

frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…

Research has shown that multiple markers of the acid-base balance are dysregulated in both acute and #LongCovid (#PASC) patients.

Additionally, the symptoms of acute and chronic acid-base imbalances (e.g. #acidosis) overlap extensively with those of Long Covid.

We propose several options for how this hypothesis can be tested in Long Covid patients.

If correct, this would offer new directions for diagnosing and treating Long Covid, as acid-base imbalances have been researched and treated for many years.
frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…

Scientific communication & accessibility is an important part of our work. To make this information as accessible as possible we wrote a summary of our hypothesis for people without a medical/scientific background & translated it into different languages.
researchaidnetworks.org/hypothesis-sum…

The summary is currently available in English, Spanish, French, Spanish, Italian and Dutch.

The list of languages in which this summary is available will be expanded in the coming days and weeks.
researchaidnetworks.org/hypothesis-sum…

We’ve also made sure to record an English spoken audio version of the summary, which you can find here:

We would like to thank the Long Covid and ME community for their support and the information sharing that helped inform this hypothesis.

frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…