Medical Express Using advanced research techniques, including a form of artificial intelligence, a team of researchers has discovered unique patterns of blood plasma proteins in patients with suspected long COVID that could improve patient outcomes. This research, which used multiple state-of the-art technologies, was enabled by existing expertise and infrastructure through CHRI. It was published in the Journal of Translational Medicine.
Currently, approximately 10–20% of people with a confirmed case of COVID-19 will get long COVID.
“Those patients experience a wide variety of symptoms, which may include fatigue, brain fog, and difficulty breathing,” said Dr. Douglas Fraser, professor in the department of pediatrics at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and physician at London Health Sciences Center (LHSC). “Their quality of life can be significantly altered, so anything that we can do to learn about this disorder and identify potential treatment targets is very important.”
Called “the plasma proteome,” the proteins are found in blood plasma and are released by cells that often play an important role in the body’s immune response to viruses. The research team is studying how those proteins adapt and change in long COVID.
“Trying to understand this mechanism is quite important because it provides further insight into how patients are affected,” says Dr. Michael Nicholson, associate scientist at Lawson, and respirologist at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. “This paper sheds further light on a possible mechanism which may provide insight into why some patients have certain symptoms.”