Study mapping how SARS-CoV-2 disrupts mitochondria suggests a cause for long Covid
The SARS-CoV-2 virus hijacks our cellular power plants known as mitochondria. A new study hypothesizes that could potentially explain long Covid.
In yet another example of Covid’s seemingly limitless reach into our bodies, new research maps out how the SARS-CoV-2 virus disrupts mitochondria, the power plants in all our cells. The extent of the damage, spanning the lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, and brain, could potentially be one explanation for the lengthy list of persistent symptoms of long Covid, from fatigue to brain fog.
Covid is often considered an inflammatory illness, and theories about what might cause long Covid center on the virus lingering in reservoirs within the body, collateral damage from an overactive immune response to acute infection, and auto-antibodies that turn on the body with misdirected protective force. The study published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine builds on work showing SARS-CoV-2 can change the structure of mitochondria and hamper energy generation. It goes further to define the genetic mechanism that damages mitochondria in organs, leading to more severe disease and perhaps long Covid.
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