Study: Covid-19 may induce lasting pain

Thousands of genes affected by a bout of Covid19 mediate the disease even after the viral infection had been cleared leading to long Covid and pain associated with it revealed a studyThese genes were associated with neurodegeneration and painrelated pathways suggesting lasting damage to dorsal root ganglia spinal nerves that carry sensory messages from various receptors that may underlie symptoms of PostCovid Conditions also known as Long CovidThe findings appearing online in the journal Science Signaling may contribute to the understanding of pathophysiology and help validate novel therapies for the prevention and treatment of CovidSeveral studies have found that a high proportion of long Covid patients suffer from abnormal perception of touch pressure temperature pain or tingling throughout the body said corresponding author Venetia Zachariou chair of pharmacology physiology and biophysics at Boston UniversityOur work suggests that SARSCoV2 might induce lasting pain in a rather unique way emphasising the need for therapeutics that target molecular pathways specific to this virus Zachariou addedCovid19 the disease resulting from SARSCoV2 infection is associated with highly variable clinical outcomes that range from asymptomatic disease to deathFor those with milder infections Covid19 can produce respiratory infection symptoms cough congestion fever and sensory phenotypes such as headache and loss of sense of smell In more severe cases SARSCoV2 infection can affect nearly every organ and result in strokes from vascular occlusion cardiovascular damage and acute renal failureA substantial number of actively infected patients suffering from both mild and severe infections experience sensoryrelated symptoms such as headache visceral pain GuillainBarre syndrome nerve pain and inflammation In most patients these symptoms subside after the infection ends but for other patients they can persistUsing an experimental model infected with SARSCoV2 the researchers studied the effects of infection on sensitivity to touch both during active infection and well after the infection had cleared They then compared the effects of SARSCoV2 to those triggered by influenza A virus infectionIn the experimental model they observed a slow but progressive increase in sensory sensitivity over time one that differed substantially from viral control influenza A virus which caused quick hypersensitivity during active infection but returned to normal by the time infection was overAccording to the researchers this model can be used to gain information on genes and pathways affected by SARSCoV2 providing novel information to the scientific community on gene expression changes in sensory ganglia several weeks after infectionWe hope this study will provide new avenues for addressing somatosensory symptoms of long Covid and MECFS myalgic encephalomyelitischronic fatigue syndrome which are only just now beginning to be addressed by mainstream medicine While we have begun using this information by validating one promising target in this study we believe our now publicly available data can yield insights into many new therapeutic strategies Zachariou saidAlso ReadExpert shares tips to protect mental health while pregnantThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever