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Giunta S, Giordani C, De Luca M, Olivieri F. Long-COVID-19 autonomic dysfunction: An integrated view in the framework of inflammaging. Mech Ageing Dev 2024; 218:111915. [PMID: 38354789 DOI: 10.1016/j.mad.2024.111915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
The recently identified syndrome known as Long COVID (LC) is characterized by a constellation of debilitating conditions that impair both physical and cognitive functions, thus reducing the quality of life and increasing the risk of developing the most common age-related diseases. These conditions are linked to the presence of symptoms of autonomic dysfunction, in association with low cortisol levels, suggestive of reduced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, and with increased pro-inflammatory condition. Alterations of dopamine and serotonin neurotransmitter levels were also recently observed in LC. Interestingly, at least some of the proposed mechanisms of LC development overlap with mechanisms of Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) imbalance, previously detailed in the framework of the aging process. ANS imbalance is characterized by a proinflammatory sympathetic overdrive, and a concomitant decreased anti-inflammatory vagal parasympathetic activity, associated with reduced anti-inflammatory effects of the HPA axis and cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP). These neuro-immune-endocrine system imbalanced activities fuel the vicious circle of chronic inflammation, i.e. inflammaging. Here, we refine our original hypothesis that ANS dysfunction fuels inflammaging and propose that biomarkers of ANS imbalance could also be considered biomarkers of inflammaging, recognized as the main risk factor for developing age-related diseases and the sequelae of viral infections, i.e. LC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Giunta
- Casa di Cura Prof. Nobili (Gruppo Garofalo (GHC) Castiglione dei Pepoli -Bologna), Italy
| | - Chiara Giordani
- Clinic of Laboratory and Precision Medicine, IRCCS INRCA, Ancona, Italy.
| | - Maria De Luca
- Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Fabiola Olivieri
- Clinic of Laboratory and Precision Medicine, IRCCS INRCA, Ancona, Italy; Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, DISCLIMO, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
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Kell DB, Khan MA, Kane B, Lip GYH, Pretorius E. Possible Role of Fibrinaloid Microclots in Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): Focus on Long COVID. J Pers Med 2024; 14:170. [PMID: 38392604 PMCID: PMC10890060 DOI: 10.3390/jpm14020170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 01/27/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a common accompaniment of a variety of chronic, inflammatory diseases, including long COVID, as are small, insoluble, 'fibrinaloid' microclots. We here develop the argument, with accompanying evidence, that fibrinaloid microclots, through their ability to block the flow of blood through microcapillaries and thus cause tissue hypoxia, are not simply correlated with but in fact, by preceding it, may be a chief intermediary cause of POTS, in which tachycardia is simply the body's exaggerated 'physiological' response to hypoxia. Similar reasoning accounts for the symptoms bundled under the term 'fatigue'. Amyloids are known to be membrane disruptors, and when their targets are nerve membranes, this can explain neurotoxicity and hence the autonomic nervous system dysfunction that contributes to POTS. Taken together as a system view, we indicate that fibrinaloid microclots can serve to link POTS and fatigue in long COVID in a manner that is at once both mechanistic and explanatory. This has clear implications for the treatment of such diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas B Kell
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown St, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Biosustainability, Building 220, Chemitorvet 200, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
- Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
| | - Muhammed Asad Khan
- Directorate of Respiratory Medicine, Manchester University Hospitals, Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester M23 9LT, UK
| | - Binita Kane
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown St, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK
- Manchester University Foundation Trust and School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| | - Gregory Y H Lip
- Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science at University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital, Liverpool L14 3PE, UK
- Danish Center for Health Services Research, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Etheresia Pretorius
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown St, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK
- Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
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