Thread by @polybioRF

We are excited to share that @MBVanElzakker & team at @MGHMartinos have published a preprint with the results of a high-resolution #LongCovid imaging study. They identified neuroinflammation across a wide range of brain regions in LongCovid patients: polybio.org/polybio-suppor…

2/ They additionally found that #neuroinflammation positively correlated with blood measures related to vascular dysfunction. The study is supported via our LongCovid Research Consortium

3/ More specifically, the team used a neuroimaging method called position emission tomography (PET) to measure #neuroimmune activation in the brains of LongCovid study participants

4/ This neuroimmune activation can reflect activity of glial cells or #inflammatory activation of the brain’s blood vessels, both of which can be components of neuroinflammation

5/ As a group the #LongCovid patients had more of the PET signal demonstrating neuroinflammation when compared to healthy study participants

6/ Interestingly, this neuroinflammation was located in some #brain areas that are exposed to circulating blood factors via normal anatomical gaps in the specialized “blood-brain barrier” of the brain’s blood vessels

7/ This finding inspired the team to measure a selection of #vascular health-related factors in the blood of the #LongCovid study participants, which was collected immediately before their scans

8/ They found that seven vascular factors including fibrinogen and L-selection were significantly correlated with neuroinflammation in the #LongCovid group

9/ “This suggests that the neuroinflammation in #LongCovid patients may be connected to vascular problems” says Dr. VanElzakker

10/ Indeed other research teams have found #SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (derived from viral reservoirs) or microclots in LongCovid blood that might be reaching parts of the #brain and driving inflammation

11/ “A better understanding of these potential sources of neuroinflammation would be important for guiding related #treatments and clinical trials” says Hannah Bues, the study’s clinical research coordinator

12/ Dr. VanElzakker and team have several other studies underway to probe connections between #vascular damage, clotting, #immune activation, and #SARS-CoV-2 persistence in Long COVID, including extended analyses of their PET neuroimaging participants

13/ The team is also running a similar PET imaging study in patients with #ME/CFS, so that comparison of neuroinflammation and vascular factors between patients with the two related diagnoses can be compared

14/ Here is the direct link to the preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.110…