76
Current COVID vaccines are given intramuscularly. This induces robust circulating antibodies and systemic T & B cell responses that block viral spread and disease. However, to better block infection, immunity has to be established at mucosal surfaces. (2/)
annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/an…
77
Neurogenesis in the hippocampus is thought to support memory function. Reactive microglia can impair this process. Indeed, mice that had mild SARS-CoV-2 infection 7 days or 7 weeks prior had significantly lower # of neuroblasts than controls. This could ⬇️ memory function. (9/)
78
A very interesting paper from Dr. Mark Davis’ group shows that in response to the mRNA vaccine, CD8 T cell responses are attenuated in people who had prior COVID compared to uninfected people. What does this mean? (1/)
doi.org/10.1016/j.immu…
79
In collaboration with @PutrinoLab at @MountSinaiNYC, we found significantly elevated circulating levels of CCL11 in long COVID patients who reported brain fog vs. those who did not. Many 🙏🏼 to @wood_jamie_1 @LauraTabacof @GeneticHeartDoc #DaynaMcCarthy & the patients! (11/)
80
We are looking for people who never had COVID or who recovered from COVID as important control participants in our Yale LISTEN study. Please sign up if you can help us understand the pathophysiology of #longCOVID and post-vaccine adverse events 🙏🏼
medicine.yale.edu/ycci/listen-st…
81
Cortisol levels in circulation were about half of the control groups. Despite this, we saw no elevation in ACTH levels, suggesting an impaired compensatory response by the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. (13/)
82
This is so interesting, giving the report by @SuYapeng et al showing similar reduction in long haulers with respiratory viral symptoms at 2-3 months post COVID. This implies chronic hypocortisolism in long COVID. (14/)
83
Next we examined a large number of plasma factors and asked which factors are most different in long COVID vs. non-long COVID groups. By far the most significant differences were found in cortisol levels. Long COVID group had lower plasma cortisol levels than control groups.(12/)
84
Long COVID participants reported a number of symptoms, most commonly fatigue, brain fog, dysautonomia..etc. Hierarchical clustering of binary symptom data identified 3 clusters of patients with similar sets of self-reported symptoms. (6/)
85
The study found that the rate of complete remission from long COVID symptoms doubled in vaccinated patients compared to unvaccinated long COVID patients. Wow, vaccines appear to be helping long haulers with recovery 👏🏼 (2/)
86
Check out our latest review on the immunology and immunopathology of COVID-19 (both acute and #longCOVID). So fortunate to work with brilliant #womeninSTEM on this review - my #shero friends @MiriamMerad @blish_lab @sallustolab 💪🏼
science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
87
This loss of oligodendrocytes was accompanied by reduced myelinated axon density in subcortical white matter within 7 days of infection. This could lead to ⬇️ neural circuit function, axon health and to numerous deleterious neurological consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection. (13/)
88
Lack of funding for the next generation COVID vaccines, including nasal spray boosters, will slow our progress in providing immunity where it’s needed - at the point of viral entry👃🏼
Thank you @VinGuptaMD @NBCNews for this news coverage!
#mucosalvaccine
youtu.be/aIaeRaNyFX0
89
This again is consistent with the report by @SuYapeng et al, showing that EBV viremia at the time of diagnosis is one of the four predictive factors for long COVID. (Note that our study did not examine viremia but infer EBV reactivation by serology)(19/)
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
90
Long COVID patients also had increases in CD4 T cells that secrete IL-2, IL-4 and IL-6, as well as some that secrete both IL-4 and IL-6. These T cells correlated with the levels of EBV reactive antibodies. Follow me down this thread further to find out more! (9/)
91
We measured antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2 antigens in people who received 2 doses of mRNA vaccines. Curiously, long COVID patients produced higher levels of IgG against Spike. Without vaccines, LC had higher IgG against nucleocapsid. Data suggest persistent antigen? (10/)
92
Finally @rahuldhodapkar used machine learning and found that immune features alone can predict long COVID with efficient discriminative performance (AUC=0.96)! The most informative individual data blocks contributing to efficient separation of groups are flow and cytokine. (21/)
93
@thehowie @NateSilver538 I also made this figure in @BioRender to help people understand which antibody test will inform infection vs. vaccination. Hope people find this useful. Please share.
94
A preprint by Michael Simon et al @ArcadiaHealthIT shows that COVID vaccines given before or AFTER infection can reduce incidence of #longCOVID, based on a retrospective analysis of the health record of 240,648 COVID-19-infected people. 🧵(1/)
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
95
Our new data demonstrate the evolution of the Omicron variants in further suppressing MHC I expression and escaping detection/killing by CD8 T cells. Thus, in addition to evasion from Ab and innate immunity, MHC I ⬇️ by Omicron may further ⬆️ replication & transmission. (End)
96
Such an honor to discuss with Prof. Ron Davis of @StanfordMed about #MECFS - metabolism, chemistry, viruses and immunology!
Start of a great collaboration.
97
The increases in antibodies to EBV and VZV antigens were also detected using independent assays like ELISA and @serimmune epitope mapping. However, seroprevalence for EBV and VZV were similar in LC and CC. These data suggest recent reactivation of EBV and VZV in LC. (18/)
98
Long COVID group reported significant increases in the intensity of symptoms and dramatically worsened quality of life. Survey outcomes put together into a single classification metric “Long COVID Propensity Score or LCPS” demonstrated significant diagnostic potential. (5/)
99
While we are so excited about the findings of this study, we also wish to highlight key limitations of this study. They are summarized here but there may be more. Our study is exploratory in nature and requires validation. (25/)
100
What does a respiratory-only mild COVID do to the brain? @ThisIsAnthonyFC and @AnnaGeraghty2 examined the subcortical white matter of two independent strains of mice and found consistently increased microglial reactivity at 7 days and 7 weeks post infection. (7/)
We study innate and adaptive immunity against viruses and study disease pathogenesis. #COVID19 #longCOVID #vaccines @HHMINEWS @YaleIBIO @YaleMed @YaleCII