Around ten to 20 percent of people who have been infected with Corona suffer from medium and long-term consequences after the illness. Why this is so is not yet clear. However, there are various assumptions as to what triggers Long Covid: an ongoing infection, a disturbed immune reaction or an autoimmune reaction in which antibodies do not attack the pathogen but the body’s own structures. A research team from Yale University has now carried out immunological tests in 99 long-Covid patients and a control group of 116 people.
The study was published as a “preprint” and has not yet been reviewed by experts. However, the results are met with great interest, as reported by the magazine “Stern”. The German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wrote on Twitter: “Finally there is light in the Long Covid tunnel.”
The patients examined were infected with Covid-19 in 2020 and were mostly treated in hospital. They reported symptoms such as fatigue (tiredness), clouded consciousness and memory problems.
Biomarkers for Long Covid?
The researchers noticed a low cortisol level in those affected. Cortisol is commonly known as the stress hormone because it is released when we are stressed. But the hormone is also involved in many metabolic processes in the body. The scientists also discovered that the antibodies that fight the Epstein-Barr virus were elevated in the long-Covid patients. These dormant herpes viruses in the body could be reactivated by a corona infection.
If the results of the study can be confirmed in further investigations, this could be a breakthrough in long-Covid research. Low cortisol levels, along with other values, could serve as a biomarker for Long Covid.
Source: Nachrichten
