Dolphin
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/nep3.70007
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
Open Access
How pandemics reshape our brain: Common links and targets between long-haul COVID-19, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), oxidative stress, and neurodegeneration
Mary E. Herman
First published: 29 May 2025
https://doi.org/10.1002/nep3.70007
Highlights
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
Open Access
How pandemics reshape our brain: Common links and targets between long-haul COVID-19, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), oxidative stress, and neurodegeneration
Mary E. Herman
First published: 29 May 2025
https://doi.org/10.1002/nep3.70007
Highlights
- Fatiguing syndromes affect millions of patients in the United States and globally, but are grossly underserved in the clinic and in the contemplative design of basic research.
- Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex multisystem metabolic-immune-inflammatory disorder. Although research on this condition is in its infancy, it appears to involve the immune system and central nervous system malfunction, with cellular oxidative stress as a predominant feature.
- Approximately half of the cases of long-haul coronavirus disease 2019 meet the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS, burgeoning the number of affected individuals.
- Recent strides in neurobiology have yet to transfer the understanding of the neurodegenerative aspects, and potential for neuroprotection, of ME/CFS.
- ME/CFS may represent a useful paradigm and research model for the study of the impact of sustained oxidative stress on the central nervous system and the body at large.
