Posting weekly news summaries from Science4ME.
"Where science and the ME/CFS community meet."
Oral Fluid Inflammatory Biomarker Profile in Long COVID: Evaluation of Oral Active and Total MMP-8, MMP-9, and TIMP-1 in Relation to BMI and Disease Status — Aji et al
"These findings suggest altered oral protease regulation in LC, while the concurrent increase in TIMP-1 may reflect a compensatory antiprotease response."
https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(26)00818-0/abstract
Long COVID is associated with lipoxygenase-catalyzed metabolism of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids — Moss et al
"we present data demonstrating that plasma 12-LO-derived metabolites were significantly increased during acute SARS-CoV2 infection in participants who went on to develop LC, and that this […] was independent of initial infection severity."
https://www.cell.com/iscience/abstract/S2589-0042(26)02960-3
Persistently activated virus-specific CD8 T cells indicate antigen-driven immune aberrations in long COVID — Painter et al
"These features are consistent with the presence of exhausted or partially exhausted spike-specific CD8 T cells in a subset of patients with LC and are indicative of chronic stimulation by a persistent reservoir of SARS-CoV2."
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.14.759221v1
bioRxivPersistently activated virus-specific CD8 T cells indicate antigen-driven immune aberrations in long COVIDLong COVID (LC) affects millions of people worldwide, yet its driving mechanisms remain incompletely defined and no treatment has been approved. Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and reactivation of herpesviruses have been implicated in LC, but direct detection of these viral antigens in blood and tissues has been challenging. T cells are exquisitely sensitive to viral antigens, survey organs throughout t
Measures of Overall Illness Severity and Burden for ME/CFS: A Scoping Review — Cripe et al
"Our review indicates that studies vary widely in how illness severity and burden in ME/CFS are operationalized."
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40271-026-00849-8
SpringerLinkMeasures of Overall Illness Severity and Burden for ME/CFS: A Scoping Review - The Patient - Patient-Centered Outcomes ResearchBackground and Objectives Consensus has not been established on measures of illness severity and burden for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), which is characterized by a wide range of symptoms including post-exertional malaise, unrefreshing sleep, and cognitive impairment. A scoping review was conducted to systematically evaluate the measurement of illness severity and b