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ME/CFS Science
@mecfsscience.org

1) Researchers discovered a subgroup of Long Covid patients with more activated killer T cells targeting SARS-CoV-2 spike and proteins from the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). A brief breakdown of the main findings 👇

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ME/CFS Science
@mecfsscience.org

2) This was a big study of 134 Long Covid patients recruited at three different clinical sites. The authors also included 54 recovered controls and tested their measurements in 49 patients followed after acute Sars-Cov-2 infection and 51 people post-vaccination.

ME/CFS Science
@mecfsscience.org

3) A first finding: the overall T cell landscape was not substantially altered in long COVID. Besides a small increase in the CD39 marker, there were no significant changes in overall T-cell populations in circulation. The difference lay in a very tiny subgroup of T-cells.

ME/CFS Science
@mecfsscience.org

4) The study used special proteins (HLA-I and HLA-II tetramers) to isolate specific T cells without altering or stimulating them. This way, they could isolate T-cells that bind to the spike of Sars-cov-2 or other virus particles.

ME/CFS Science
@mecfsscience.org

5) They found that Long Covid patients have more activated CD8 T-cells that target Sars-Cov-2 spike than controls. They were characterized by several activation markers (PD-1, CD38, CD39, Ki-67, HLA-DR).