At the Harvard/MIT Martinos Center, Dr. Mario Murakami and the VanElzakker lab are using ultrahigh-resolution 7T fMRI to understand how changes to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow in people with Craniocervical Instability can produce a phenotype similar to that seen in ME/CFS and other neuroimmune conditions. The brain relies on cerebrospinal fluid to carry out metabolic waste that builds up during normal physiological processes, acting as a “garbage disposal,” as explained by Murakami. Changes to healthy CSF flow may result in the buildup of these metabolites in the brain. Said Murakami, “There is a compromised structure of CSF flow in CCI [patients] compared with healthy controls, which means that maybe this is part of the mechanisms which drive the symptoms—the brain fog, the pain, the fatigue, the autonomic dysfunction.”

3/ This study builds on growing evidence that a portion of patients with IACI, including Long COVID and ME/CFS, possess functional and structural brainstem abnormalities. The brainstem itself is additionally susceptible to CSF flow changes, and contains dorsal nuclei that control autonomic function, pain, sleep, and sickness behavior—which, if dysfunctional, could have implications for these functions.

At the Harvard/MIT Martinos Center, Dr. Mario Murakami and the VanElzakker lab are using ultrahigh resolution 7T fMRI to understand how changes to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow in people with Craniocervical Instability can produce a phenotype similar to that seen in ME/CFS and other neuroimmune conditions. The brain relies on cerebrospinal fluid to carry out metabolic waste that builds up during normal physiological processes, acting as a “garbage disposal,” as explained by Murakami. Changes to healthy CSF flow may result in the buildup of these metabolites in the brain. Said Murakami, “There is a compromised structure of CSF flow in CCI [patients] compared with healthy controls, which means that maybe this is part of the mechanisms which drive the symptoms—the brain fog, the pain, the fatigue, the autonomic dysfunction.”

3/ This study builds on growing evidence that a portion of patients with IACI, including Long COVID and ME/CFS, possess functional and structural brainstem abnormalities. The brainstem itself is additionally susceptible to CSF flow changes and contains dorsal nuclei that control autonomic function, pain, sleep, and sickness behavior—which, if dysfunctional in patients, could largely alter these functions.

Today at the Harvard/MIT DeMartinos Center: VanElzakker lab team member Salah Assana presented on a whole-body PET-MRI study using a fibrin-binding radioligand in Long COVID patients with breathing issues. Supported by PolyBio, the ongoing study investigates fibrin accumulation in the lungs that isn’t identified on standard clinical imaging.

Breaking: PolyBio-Supported Preprint Finds Persistently Activated Virus-Specific T cells in a Subset of People with Long COVID 👉🏻Virus-specific immune cells show signs of ongoing stimulation and impaired function in a subset of people with Long COVID, offering a potential way to guide targeted clinical trials 1/

20/ PolyBio plans to bring the biosensor test into its diagnostic incubator program to support further refinement, validation, and development toward a commercial diagnostic test.