Brain scans in ME/CFS and Long COVID have found changes in glutamate and GABA, the chemicals that control brain activity.

Multiple studies now suggest disrupted excitation and inhibition may be linked to brain fog, fatigue, and sensory symptoms. Let’s breakdown in simple terms. Glutamate is a main brain signal that increases nerve cell activity.

GABA is a main signal that reduces activity.

Some researchers think symptoms in ME/CFS or long COVID could involve this balance, but evidence is early.

Scientists just mapped tiny veins across the entire living human brain in under 7 minutes using ultra-high resolution MRI.

Previously this kind of detailed view was mainly built from postmortem (after death) methods.

Here’s what they did and why it matters. The study used a very strong MRI scanner called 7-Tesla.

Higher strength means clearer images.

This allowed them to see very small brain veins that are normally invisible in standard hospital scans.

Breakdown of our Health Rising interview: we’re building one of the biggest Long COVID + ME/CFS biology datasets yet, using a blood test that reads ~20,000 gene activity signals plus a 350-question symptom map. The aim is to find subgroups and speed up treatments that may actually fit. We were recently interviewed by Cort at Health Rising about Amatica Health:

Our mission to help solve ME/CFS + Long COVID, how we’re doing it (big patient data + deep biology), what we’ve achieved so far, and what we think the field is missing.

New research on ME/CFS finds unusual cell signals after exercise.

Tiny packages released by cells (extracellular vesicles) show problems with energy production, an overactive immune system, and cell stress. Let’s break it down in simple terms. ME/CFS patients often experience “post-exertional malaise” (PEM) - a severe worsening of symptoms after activity.

Even light exercise can leave them exhausted, in pain, or cognitively impaired for days.

The biological cause of PEM has been unclear.

New analysis suggests treating COVID-19 right at its entry point (nose & throat) can slow or stop the virus early.

Using simple nasal sprays or gargles (like iodine solution or salt water) early on might lower the risk of severe illness. C19Early is a site run by independent researchers that compiles COVID-19 treatment studies.

This page focuses on nose/throat treatments, aiming to inform both doctors and the public about early interventions to stop the virus at its entry point.

For the first time, scientists have reversed advanced Alzheimer’s disease in mice - fully restoring memory and repairing brain damage by targeting the brain’s energy supply. Alzheimer’s has long been seen as irreversible, so treatments only aimed to slow it.

This study shows that even late-stage Alzheimer’s might be reversible by fixing the brain’s energy balance

New research finds ME/CFS symptoms cluster into 4 distinct groups.

Each group is linked to a different body system: the brain, the autonomic nervous system, the gut, or the immune system What is ME/CFS?

It stands for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

It’s a serious long-term illness, often triggered by a viral infection, that causes extreme fatigue and a mix of other symptoms all over the body.

Lab-grown mini muscles showed that blood from people with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long COVID can directly weaken and damage muscle cells.

The muscles first tried to adapt their energy use, then became fragile and lost strength. Why do this study?

ME/CFS and Long COVID cause extreme fatigue and muscle weakness, but the reasons are unclear. Scientists wanted to see if something in patients’ blood affects muscles.

They built a new lab model to test this idea.

New research finds people with ME/CFS have a striking deficiency in vasopressin - a hormone that helps the body retain water.

This could explain common symptoms like constant thirst and dizziness upon standing.

Let's break down the findings. ME/CFS involves orthostatic intolerance (trouble staying upright, often causing dizziness or a fast heartbeat upon standing). Many also report extreme thirst and frequent urination, hinting at a water balance problem.

2025 brought big new clues about Long COVID and ME/CFS:

Genes tied to risk, immune and clotting changes, PEM findings, possible blood tests, and brain changes.

Here is an end of year round up in plain language. Long COVID genetics

A huge study of thousands of people found specific spots in our DNA that raise the risk of long COVID, many in immune and lung related genes. This confirms a clear biological driver.

New research shows major damage in the brain stress system of people with very severe ME/CFS.

The key finding: a near-loss of the neurons that start the cortisol stress response. This helps explain low cortisol and many symptoms.

Let’s break it down in simple language. Researchers studied brains from 7 people with ME/CFS who donated tissue after death.

They focused on the hypothalamus, a small brain region that controls energy, stress, and hormones.

Mild COVID in monkeys caused long lasting changes in brain and body.

Months later they still had problems with smell and taste, thinking, sleep and heart control.

This looks similar to long COVID in people. 10 adult rhesus macaques (5 female, 5 male) were infected with the early Wuhan strain. Illness was mild.

They were followed for 4 to 5 months with repeated tests.

Whole blood RNA sequencing can identify which high risk COVID 19 patients are most likely to worsen and which ones respond best to sotrovimab.

A similar method to what we aim to do in Long COVID and ME at @amaticahealth

Paper breakdown 🧵 @amaticahealth 302 trial participants had blood taken on day 1 and day 8.

RNA seq measured which genes were active. This data showed clear patterns that separated high and low risk patients.

Anktiva is probably one of the most interesting drugs in trial for Long COVID. It works by raising key immune cells that seem low or poorly functioning in LC condition.

This thread explains what the drug does and why researchers are testing it. Anktiva is a lab made version of a natural signal in the body called IL15.

IL15 tells certain immune cells to wake up, grow in number, and work more effectively. These cells include NK cells and CD8 T cells, which target infected or abnormal cells.

Extremely cool new study reports that people with Long COVID have higher levels of blood particles called extracellular vesicles (EVs). These particles also have more mannose, a type of sugar molecule.

This may allow a device called a GNA lectin filter to remove them. 🧵 EVs are tiny bubbles released by cells. They carry proteins and genetic material.

They can influence inflammation and the immune system. In Long COVID, EVs may help keep symptoms going.

New paper links EBV to Lupus.

In lupus (SLE), Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infects B cells that react to the body’s own nuclear material. EBV then changes these B cells so they act like antigen presenting cells. This may help drive the autoimmune process

Breakdown 🧵 EBV infects almost everyone, but only some people develop lupus. This study looked at how EBV behaves inside B cells in SLE compared to healthy people.

New research shows ME/CFS involves measurable DNA-level changes - including genetic risk factors, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and epigenetic reprogramming - linking it biologically to Long COVID and pointing to new diagnostic and treatment paths.

Let’s break it down🧵 Family and twin studies show ME/CFS is partly genetic. Identical twins share the illness much more often than non-identical ones, with heritability around 50%.

Genes, not just environment, strongly affect disease risk.

1/ New study tested blood from ME/CFS patients for 185 human viruses.

Result: healthy controls had more viral DNA than patients (Unexpected).

Only Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) appeared more often in ME/CFS, hinting at possible reactivation in a subgroup.

Let’s break it down🧵 Researchers used a special molecular probe technology that searches for DNA from 185 known human viruses.

Each probe targets a short, unique sequence belonging to one specific virus.

New study on long COVID with ME/CFS looked at 78 patients and 62 recovered controls

Females - stronger inflammation, leaky gut, Treg loss, neuroinflammatory transcriptome, low testosterone

Males - persistent innate and interferon signaling, mitochondrial stress Methods in brief:

- Blood cell counts and flow cytometry

- Cytokine and chemokine panels

- Gut leak markers

- Sex hormones

- Whole-blood RNA sequencing

- Computational cell deconvolution (CIBERSORTx)

- Statistics and regression

New research has identified a potential biological cause for post-COVID fatigue/muscle fatigue.

Scientists found that a molecule called soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R), linked to immune activation, may directly harm mitochondria in muscle cells. Two studies led by Brown et al. (a 2024 preprint and a 2025 peer-reviewed paper) examined blood and muscle samples from people with long-COVID fatigue compared to healthy controls.

Elevated Angiotensin II (AngII) in ME/CFS & Long COVID patients:

Ang II controls blood pressure and circulation. It can also affect insulin use in muscle, activate brain immune cells, and more.

Let’s breakdown the findings in simple terms 🧵 Ang II helps control blood pressure, circulation, and inflammation.

Too much Ang II can narrow blood vessels and increase stress inside the vascular system.