Unravelling shared mechanisms: insights from recent ME/CFS research to illuminate long COVID pathologies

Sarah J Annesley; Daniel Missailidis; Benjamin Heng; Elisha K Josev; Christopher W Armstrong

doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2024.02.003

Unravelling shared mechanisms: insights from recent ME/CFS research to illuminate long COVID pathologies

Trends Mol Med. 2024 Mar 4:S1471-4914(24)00028-5. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2024.02.003. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Sarah J Annesley¹, Daniel Missailidis², Benjamin Heng³, Elisha K Josev⁴, Christopher W Armstrong⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, La Trobe University, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: S.Annesley@latrobe.edu.au.
² Department of Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, La Trobe University, VIC, Australia.
³ Macquarie Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Human and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ Neurodisability & Rehabilitation, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia; Mercy Hospital for Women, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

PMID: 38443223
DOI: 10.1016/j.molmed.2024.02.003

Abstract

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating chronic illness often triggered by an initiating acute event, mainly viral infections. The transition from acute to chronic disease remains unknown, but interest in this phenomenon has escalated since the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-COVID-19 illness, termed 'long COVID' (LC). Both ME/CFS and LC share many clinical similarities. Here, we present recent findings in ME/CFS research focussing on proposed disease pathologies shared with LC. Understanding these disease pathologies and how they influence each other is key to developing effective therapeutics and diagnostic tests. Given that ME/CFS typically has a longer disease duration compared with LC, with symptoms and pathologies evolving over time, ME/CFS may provide insights into the future progression of LC.

Keywords: ME/CFS; biomarkers; immune system; long COVID (LC); metabolic dysfunction; neuroinflammation.

Publication types

Review