- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted expanded access to the stem cell infusion RegeneCytefor Long COVID. The investigational treatment is derived from human umbilical cord blood and is produced by the company Stemcyte Inc. Expanded access, sometimes called “compassionate use,” is a potential way for people with life-threatening diseases to access a treatment still being researched, in the absence of other options. A small phase two trial of the intervention that included 30 participants recently found “statistically significant reductions in fatigue symptoms” in people with Long COVID.
- Long COVID isn’t being consistently captured around the world due to differences in sociological factors, diagnostic tools, and healthcare access. A new observational study in Frontiers of Human Neuroscience assessed the neurological symptoms of over 3,000 people with the disease from Colombia, India, Nigeria, and the U.S., and found a higher frequency of symptoms in Colombia and the U.S. The authors concluded that the study demonstrates the challenge of comparing the burden of neurological symptoms “across diverse settings when using different assessment methods.” Still, they found one common theme: Long COVID “affects young and middle-aged adults in their prime, causing significant detrimental impact on the workforce, productivity, and innovation all over the world.”
- A phase two trial for Long COVID-associated postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is testing a product called 2-hydroxybenzylamine (2-HOBA). The natural compound comes from Himalayan buckwheat seeds and is being studied in other diseases to address inflammation and oxidative stress. The small study will enroll 50 participants in Nashville, Tennessee. Participants will take 500 milligrams of the drug three times per day for 28 days, or receive a placebo. Contact: Marwa Mohamed, marwa.mohamed@vumc.org.
