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Review
. 2022 Dec 22;15(1):42.
doi: 10.3390/v15010042.

Long Covid: Untangling the Complex Syndrome and the Search for Therapeutics

Azizul Haque  1 , Anudeep B Pant  2
Affiliations
Review

Long Covid: Untangling the Complex Syndrome and the Search for Therapeutics

Azizul Haque et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Long Covid can affect anyone who has previously had acute COVID-19. The root causes of this syndrome are still unknown, and no effective therapeutics are available. This complex syndrome, with a wide array of symptoms, is still evolving. Given the dire situation, it is important to identify the causes of Long Covid and the changes occurring within the immune system of affected patients to figure out how to treat it. The immune system intersects with the persistent viral fragments and blood clots that are implicated in this syndrome; understanding how these complex systems interact may help in untangling the puzzling physiopathology of Long Covid and identifying mitigation measures to provide patients some relief. In this paper, we discuss evidence-based findings and formulate hypotheses on the mechanisms underlying Long Covid's physiopathology and propose potential therapeutic options.

Keywords: Long Covid; autoimmunity; biomarkers; inflammation; therapeutics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. All authors concur with the submission of the manuscript and none of the materials included in this manuscript have been published or are under consideration for publication elsewhere. The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline and Symptoms of Long Covid. Panel A demonstrates the approximate timeline for acute and Long Covid manifestation following infection with SARS-CoV-2 (note: the CDC states that four weeks after infections is when Long Covid conditions can first be identified); Panel B depicts the array of heterogenous symptoms caused by Long Covid across multiple systems; Panel C demonstrates the early time periods where accurate biomarkers identifying the onset of Long Covid could be most beneficial to attenuate disease progression.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Factors Contributing to Long Covid and Potential Treatment Options. Panel A depicts suspected determinants contributing to Long Covid such as the presence of a virus or viral fragments after recovery from acute infection, chronic inflammation from organ damage, blood clotting dysfunction, and dysregulation of immune responses; Panel B demonstrates various risk factors including comorbidities, smoking, gender, age, and reactivation of latent pathogens; Panel C depicts potential therapeutic approaches, which include repurposing FDA approved drugs targeting specific symptom, the use of existing or newly discovered anti-viral drugs, anti-coagulant treatments and the use of immunomodulatory agents.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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