- Another observational study found more evidence of endothelial dysfunction in Long COVID. German researchers evaluated the eyes of 102 people with Long COVID, comparing them to 102 people “recovered” from COVID-19, as well as controls. The study, published in BMC Medicine, used a non-invasive technique called retinal vessel analysis (RVA) that measures blood vessels in the eyes. Researchers found people with Long COVID had abnormalities in those vessels; those abnormalities were most pronounced in the participants who also met criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). They additionally found those with the abnormalities had worse neurocognitive symptoms.
- A small clinical trial found a probiotic formula called VSL#3 helped improve fatigue in people with Long COVID. Published in the British Journal of Biomedical Science, the trial included 23 participants who took two sachets of the formula per day for 28 days, or a placebo. The Italian researchers used the Chalder Fatigue Scale as a primary endpoint, finding that the formula significantly reduced fatigue compared to the placebo. They also found, using exploratory biological analysis, that the formula reduced some pro-inflammatory and immune-related cytokines; they concluded more research is needed on treatments targeting the microbiome for Long COVID with larger sample sizes.
- Small pieces of genetic molecules in the blood called “microRNA” may serve as a future biomarker for Long COVID, according to a new study shared in Communications Medicine. Austrian researchers evaluated the blood of 206 people with Long COVID and compared them to 71 controls, finding abnormalities in three microRNAs in Long COVID. “These findings suggest that measuring circulating microRNAs could eventually help with diagnosis, but further validation in larger, well-matched populations is required before clinical implementation,” the authors wrote.
