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Brain Inflammation Collaborative Profile picture
@BrainInflCollab
Aug 10 • 3 tweets • 2 min read • Read on X
67% of 2,314 Long COVID patients surveyed reported symptoms of a dysregulated autonomic nervous system such as:
- A drop in blood pressure when standing
- Brain fog or cognitive disturbances
- Dizziness or light-headedness
- Heartbeat irregularities
- Gastrointestinal issues
- Tingling or numbness
- Bladder dysfunction
- Shortness of breath
- Sleep disturbances
- Chest pain
- Fatigue

This translates to 38 million Americans with Long COVID dysautonomia.

But there is a problem...🧵
"There are only 52 doctors in the US who are board-certified in autonomic disorders and fewer than 50 dysautonomia specialty centers throughout the US equipped to diagnose, treat, and study dysautonomia."

Furthermore, there are also no effective treatments for dysautonomia.

Read more here:
buff.ly/ebK7y0D
Existing medical centers are overwhelmed, forcing clinicians to "[turn] away new and even existing dysautonomia patients."

This is a heartfelt appeal to all the bright, dedicated medical students still exploring their specialty options: the Long COVID community urgently needs your skills, compassion, and innovation to address this growing crisis!

Please help us spread the word by sharing this content!

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More from @BrainInflCollab

Brain Inflammation Collaborative Profile picture
Oct 5
Two consistent hallmarks of ME/CFS are:
- Post-exertional malaise (PEM)
- Chronic fatigue

A new study finds more hints at the drivers of these symptoms...🧵 ID: Decorative image of a brain pictured in bright colors like from a radioactive tracer showing brain regions with highest metabolic activity presented on a black background.
Researchers from Ian Lipkin's Lab at Columbia University (and others) recruited:
- 56 patients with ME/CFS and
- 52 healthy controls.

Next, they measured the following before and 24 h after exercise:
- Lipids
- Cytokines
- Metabolites
- Plasma proteins

Here is what they found.

Full Study: nature.com/articles/s4432…Image
Immune cells were isolated from the blood and stimulated to respond as if a pathogen were present.

One of these infection-mimicking molecules was a bacterial toxin, Staph aureus enterotoxin B (SEB).

The ME/CFS white blood cells made significantly more pro-inflammatory cytokines (independent of exercise) in response to SEB (below).Image
Read 10 tweets
Brain Inflammation Collaborative Profile picture
Oct 3
A recent paper revealed the shocking prevalence of neuropsychiatric conditions in patients with mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS)

This includes but is not limited to:
- Panic disorder
- Neuropathy
- Depression
- Brain fog
- Tinnitus
- Anxiety
- PTSD
- etc.

Here are the numbers...🧵ID: Decorative image of a brain made out of Play-Doh with six different bright colors highlighting different regions of the brain.
Dr. Leonard Weinstock, in collaboration with a group of other prominent researchers, used questionnaires from:
- 553 MCAS patients
- 558 control subjects

The surveys were used to determine the prevalence of:
- 19 neurologic and
- 14 psychiatric disorders

While the link between neuropsychiatric conditions and MCAS isn't surprising, the magnitude of the reported association was...

Read more:
buff.ly/Nl0U8ZXID: Screenshot of the paper being discussed
They found that females with MCAS had ⬆️ odds of (*=significant change):
Migraines or severe headaches: 4.6-fold increased odds*
Insomnia (severe and chronic): 3.8-fold increased odds*
Non-epileptic seizure activity: 14.3-fold increased odds*
Restless legs syndrome: 3.4-fold increased odds*
Cognitive dysfunction: 22.5-fold increased odds*
Sound hypersensitivity: 5.9-fold increased odds*
Odor hypersensitivity: 12.8-fold increased odds*
Light hypersensitivity: 11.5-fold increased odds*
Fainting or near faint: 10.0-fold increased odds*
Pain hypersensitivity: 6.2-fold increased odds*
Muscle weakness: 8.4-fold increased odds*
Chronic fatigue: 21.3-fold increased odds*
Acoustic startle: 4.5-fold increased odds*
Tremors at rest: 8.9-fold increased odds*
Sleep attacks: 9.0-fold increased odds*
Neuropathy: 11.1-fold increased odds*
Myalgia: 12.2-fold increased odds*
Tinnitus: 6.4-fold increased odds*
Read 12 tweets
Brain Inflammation Collaborative Profile picture
Sep 13
It's estimated that 65 million individuals worldwide are affected by ME/CFS (1).

However, there are no clinically validated biomarkers.

Here's why that could change...🧵 ID: Decorative image of a brain scan in bright colors on a black background.
Researchers from Cornell University sequenced the cell-free ribonucleic acid (cfRNA) from the blood of:
- seditary, healthy controls
- those w/ ME/CFS

They used those RNA sequences to train an AI (machine learning) model.

After training, the model could predict which cfRNA sequences were from an ME patient with 77% accuracy.

But first, what is RNA...Image
There are many different types of RNA expressed by all the cells in your body.

Some RNA is the exact same regardless of your:
- disease status
- diet
- etc.

However, a subset of the RNA can vary significantly depending on one's health.
Read 10 tweets
Brain Inflammation Collaborative Profile picture
Sep 7
Persistent chronic inflammation slows the production of serotonin, diverting it instead toward the production of quinolinic acid, a neurotoxin.

This is thought to play a role in psychiatric symptoms associated with chronic inflammation and infections.

Here is why...🧵 ID: Image of a waterfall with the word tryptophan at the top of the waterfall and the words serotonin (good) and quinolinic acid (bad) at the bottom of the water fall.
🧠 The Kynurenine Pathway Background
Often, a linear biochemical pathway can diverge into two pathways, making two different molecules (serotonin and quinolinic acid) from the same reactant (tryptophan).

Biochemical pathways in our cells can be thought of as a waterfall where reactants (tryptophan) rapidly "flow" through a series of enzymatic reactions, producing new molecules.

See the image from above.Image
🧠+🔥 Inflammation Changes the Pathway
Chronic inflammation from an infection or autoimmune disease can alter this biochemical "waterfall."

Inflammation can change the efficiency of several key enzymes in the pathway, REDIRECTING the "flow" TOWARD quinolinic acid production, a neurotoxin.

Specifically, 🔥 inflammation:
⬇️ reduces the "flow" of tryptophan down the serotonin side and
⬆️ increases the "flow" of tryptophan down the neurotoxin production side (see image).Image
Read 4 tweets
Brain Inflammation Collaborative Profile picture
Sep 5
Long COVID is more prevalent in women.

Could this new study explain why? 🧵 ID: Decorative image of a human brain scan.
Researchers from 16 different countries recruited 2390 individuals (age 50 ± 15 years, 49.2% women) to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on vascular aging.

They found that persistent COVID-19 symptoms in women correlated with increased vascular aging.

Here is why this matters.

medpagetoday.com/cardiology/gen…
Arteries deliver oxygenated blood away from the heart.

They are surrounded by layers of cells, including smooth muscle cells (SMCs).

The diameter of the arteries expands and contracts in part due to the SMCs.

Higher O2 demand = SMC relaxation = increased artery diameter. Image
Read 12 tweets
Brain Inflammation Collaborative Profile picture
Aug 28
Data suggest there is a broken ion channel on the surface of white blood cells in patients with (1):
- Long COVID
- ME/CFS

New evidence suggests it can be fixed.

Here is how...🧵 ID: Cartoon of a purple ion channel protein embedded in the plasma membrane.
Research from Dr. Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik in Brisbane, Australia, verified that Long COVID patients, like ME/CFS patients, have a dysfunctional calcium ion channel called TRPM3(1).

The function of this ion channel can be restored with low-dose naltrexone (LDN) in ME/CFS-isolated immune cells (1).

New evidence suggests the same for Long COVID patients. (below)Image
This ion channel is located on the plasma membrane of cells, where it is highly permeable to Ca2+ (ions).

This means it lets Ca2+ ions into the cell.

These calcium ions play an important role in:
- calcium-dependent signaling pathways
- calcium homeostasis
- cell differentiation
- cell adhesion
- cell division

It also plays an important role in the function of immune cells (1).
Read 7 tweets

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