Baker Anne M E, Maffitt Natalie J, Del Vecchio Alessandro, McKeating Katherine M, Baker Mark R, Baker Stuart N, Soteropoulos Demetris S
Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK.
Department Artificial Intelligence in Biomedical Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91052 Erlangen, Germany.
Brain Commun. 2023 Apr 12;5(3):fcad122. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad122. eCollection 2023.
Following infection with SARS-CoV-2, a substantial minority of people develop lingering after-effects known as 'long COVID'. Fatigue is a common complaint with a substantial impact on daily life, but the neural mechanisms behind post-COVID fatigue remain unclear. We recruited 37 volunteers with self-reported fatigue after a mild COVID infection and carried out a battery of behavioural and neurophysiological tests assessing the central, peripheral and autonomic nervous systems. In comparison with age- and sex-matched volunteers without fatigue ( = 52), we show underactivity in specific cortical circuits, dysregulation of autonomic function and myopathic change in skeletal muscle. Cluster analysis revealed no subgroupings, suggesting post-COVID fatigue is a single entity with individual variation, rather than a small number of distinct syndromes. Based on our analysis, we were also able to exclude dysregulation in sensory feedback circuits and descending neuromodulatory control. These abnormalities on objective tests may aid in the development of novel approaches for disease monitoring.
感染新型冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）后，相当少数的人会出现被称为“长新冠”的持续后遗症。疲劳是一种常见的主诉，对日常生活有重大影响，但新冠后疲劳背后的神经机制仍不清楚。我们招募了37名在轻度新冠感染后自我报告有疲劳症状的志愿者，并进行了一系列行为和神经生理学测试，以评估中枢、外周和自主神经系统。与年龄和性别匹配的无疲劳志愿者（n = 52）相比，我们发现特定皮质回路活动不足、自主神经功能失调以及骨骼肌的肌病性改变。聚类分析未发现亚组，这表明新冠后疲劳是一个具有个体差异的单一实体，而非少数几种不同的综合征。基于我们的分析，我们还能够排除感觉反馈回路和下行神经调节控制的失调。这些客观测试中的异常情况可能有助于开发新的疾病监测方法。
