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Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS) Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), Fibromyalgia Leading Research. Delivering Hope.Open Medicine Foundation® Canada
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Multi-Omic Approaches to Solve Post-Acute COVID-19 (MOSAIC)

Study Aim

The purpose of this study is to facilitate early detection of ME/CFS in people with Long COVID and better understand disease progression.

Investigators

  • Alain Moreau, PhD
  • Jonas Bergquist, MD, PhD
  • Christopher Armstrong, PhD

Updates and Potential

  • We identified a differential methylation signature that can distinguish between Long COVID patients who will remain severely affected and those likely to recover over time.
  • Several affected genes represent potential therapeutic targets for accelerating Long COVID recovery.
  • Two manuscripts on DNA methylation are in progress.
  • Two manuscripts related to the role of circulating microRNAs in Long COVID pathogenesis are in progress.

An intriguing finding from the Long COVID cohort (non-hospitalized patients) is that around 24% of them had scoliosis during adolescence, which is a significantly higher rate than the 2-4% seen in the general population. Our proteomic data revealed significant upregulation of BNC2 in certain plasma samples—a marker linked to scoliosis onset and progression. It’s unclear whether preexisting elevated BNC2 levels predispose individuals to Long COVID or if Long COVID may reactivate scoliosis through BNC2 stimulation.

STUDY HYPOTHESIS AND DESCRIPTION

Despite the myriad of symptoms that patients can have with “Long COVID”, it appears that there are common pathogenic mechanisms for those disparate symptoms. While ME/CFS researchers understand that viral insult combined with other factors likely contribute to the onset of ME/CFS and related conditions like FM, it is important to identify the molecular mechanisms leading to these conditions as well as how to discriminate ME/CFS from other types of long-term sequelae (e.g., neurological conditions, respiratory dysfunction) as early as possible among COVID-19 long-haulers. 

Such an approach can lead to the development of algorithms predicting their clinical trajectories. It also offers an opportunity to help COVID-19 long-haulers as well as ME/CFS patients to better understand the progression of the condition and provide insights to identify targeted treatment strategies through precision medicine. Finally, as ME/CFS has historically followed viral outbreaks, the study of COVID-19 long-haulers may shed light on post-infectious fatigue syndrome following infections other than COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES

Test tube with blood in the hand.

  1. Identify the global expression profiling of circulating microRNAs among different Long COVID subsets.
  2. Analyze the global DNA methylation profiling of different Long COVID subsets.
  3. Analyze the global proteomic plasma profiling of different Long COVID subsets.
  4. Analyze the global metabolomic plasma and urine profiling of Long COVID subsets.

Consent management

Consent Preferences

Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) Form 

Microvesicles and viral sequencing
Microvesicles are a type of extracellular vesicle that is released from the cell membrane. Vesicles are small, fluid-filled sacs or vacuoles within the body. Sequencing is a technique used to determine the exact sequence of bases (A, C, G, and T) in a DNA (or viral) molecule.
NMR Metabolomics
NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) is an instrument/tool used to perform metabolic studies, metabolic profiling, and metabolomics in biofluids and tissues for more than 40 years using magnetic fields. There is a very close connection between metabolic measurements and NMR. This connection has flourished because of NMR’s many unique strengths for characterizing complex mixtures’ chemical composition.
Proteomics
The large-scale study of proteins, which are large, complex molecules that are required for structure, function, and regulation of the human body's tissues and organs.
Autoantibodies
Antibodies that react with self-molecules and that occur in healthy individuals and are referred to as natural antibodies or autoantibodies.
Extracellular DNA for viral reactivation and Mitochondrial DNA
exDNA (extracellular DNA), exDNA is often secreted actively and is used to perform several tasks, thereby offering an attractive target or tool for biotechnological, medical, environmental, and general microbiological applications. Viruses are intracellular parasites that rely to a significant extent on the host cell for replication. Viral reactivation occurs when an active replication of the viral genome results in a lytic (degradation of the cell) infection characterized by the release of new progeny (descendant) virus particles.
Immune cell profiling
The immune system has many important regulatory roles in disease development and progression. Given the emergence of effective immune therapies, reliable predictors of response are needed. Immune cell profiling determines response by evaluating immune cell populations from treated and untreated samples. For our purposes, we will evaluate the white blood cell response to the viral infection using a process called “Cytof.”
Leukocyte Genomics
A leukocyte is a colorless cell circulating in the blood and body fluids and is involved in counteracting foreign substances and disease. A genome is all genetic material of an organism. Genomics is a biology field focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. Therefore, leukocyte genomics is the study of all genetic material of leukocytes.
Metabolomics
Metabolomics is a way to study metabolism – that is, through measuring amounts of the metabolites (small molecules) produced by our bodies as we convert food into energy and other molecules that our cells need to survive. Metabolomics technology is ‘large-scale,’ meaning that several thousand metabolites can be measured from a single sample of e.g., blood or urine.
Micro RNA
Cells use Micro RNA to control whether a particular gene is making too much, too little or the normal amount of its protein at a particular time.