Blood Marker Identified as Potential Indicator for Long Covid

A recent study has identified a specific protein level in the blood that may serve as a key marker for the development of Long Covid. Researchers from the Medical University of Vienna discovered that Pentraxin 3 (PTX-3) is significantly elevated in individuals who have experienced severe Covid-19 infections, remaining high even months after the acute phase of the illness has resolved. This finding points to a potential biomarker for ongoing tissue damage, prolonged immune activation, and complications associated with Covid-19.

The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, examined the levels of acute phase proteins in the blood of 141 individuals who had recovered from Covid-19, comparing their results ten weeks and ten months post-infection to those of 98 uninfected control subjects. Acute phase proteins are crucial components of the innate immune system, rapidly released into the bloodstream during infections to combat pathogens and manage associated inflammatory and healing processes. Typically, elevated serum levels of these proteins during the acute phase of Covid-19 correlate with severe or fatal clinical outcomes, and they generally return to baseline levels shortly after recovery. However, this study revealed that PTX-3 levels remained significantly increased in patients who had experienced severe illness even ten weeks following their infection.

Furthermore, some patients with severe Covid-19 exhibited notably higher PTX-3 levels even ten months after the acute phase, compared to those with milder cases and uninfected controls. The researchers propose that these sustained PTX-3 elevations may indicate either an ongoing repair mechanism within the body or the persistence of remnants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself. Thus, PTX-3 could serve as both a biomarker for lasting tissue damage and/or prolonged immune activity, as well as potential complications arising from Covid-19.

Moreover, this research provides insights into the possible development of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Prolonged immune activation, potentially due to ongoing repair processes and lingering viral components, has been suggested in scientific literature as a contributing factor to the emergence of Long Covid. The study offers significant details regarding these underlying mechanisms, indicating the need for further research to explore these findings more comprehensively.