Long Covid Genes

Exploring the new research

Genetic Lifehacks

Hi there, 

While writing last week's article on plasmalogens and brain health, I found the studies on long Covid and ME/CFS fascinating, which prompted me to dig into the new research on long Covid. 

In long Covid, the symptoms vary from person to person and seem to result from multiple physiological changes. Genetic studies have now identified several genes that increase susceptibility to long covid. And a brand-new study of muscle biopsies from people with fatigue and exercise intolerance shows striking changes in muscle function.

While it seems like we now have so much knowledge about genetics, insight into how cells work, and medications for every symptom, I was reminded this week that there are still massive discoveries to be made. 

Researchers at Stanford have discovered new virus-like things that they call "obelisks". These virus-like entities are made of loops of RNA and are found inside our mouths and in the gut microbiome.  Obelisks appear to infect bacteria and have been found in half of the oral bacteria and about 7% of the gut bacteria. In the human microbiome, researchers identified nearly 30,000 different obelisks.[ref]

The discovery of this new viroid-like entity highlights all that we don't know about the biological world,  including what's going on inside us. But every new discovery gives us more insight.

Staying curious, 

Debbie

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Plasmalogens: Healthy Brain Aging and More

Key takeaways:
~ Long Covid is the persistence of symptoms after having COVID-19.
~ Fatigue, brain fog, heart rate problems, and breathing issues are the most common symptoms, but other systemic issues can also occur. It is a heterogenous condition.
~ Research on long Covid points towards multiple pathways being involved, which means that the solutions may be different for individuals.
~ Genetic research shows which genes are involved in susceptibility.

Read the full article

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What I've been reading:

1) Transplantation of gut microbiota from old mice into young healthy mice reduces lean mass but not bone mass

Researchers discovered that a fecal transplant from old mice to young mice causes reductions in lean muscle mass in the still-growing mice. Their future studies will look into whether fecal transplants from young mice can improve muscle mass in old mice.

2) How does chronic stress harm the gut? New clues emerge

The Nature article explains new research on how the gut microbiome changes when someone is under chronic mental stress. For people with IBS, stress often causes flare-ups. The shift in the proliferation of Lactobacillus species in the gut microbiome may explain why.