“Long COVID involves a spectrum of chronic symptoms after acute severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection.”

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“Current hypotheses for the pathogenesis of Long COVID include persistent virus, tissue damage, autoimmunity, endocrine insufficiency, immune dysfunction and complement activation.”

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“We performed immunological, virological, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses from a cohort of 142 individuals between 2020 and 2021, including uninfected controls (n = 35), acutely infected individuals (n = 54), convalescent controls (n = 24) and patients with Long COVID (n = 28).”

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“The Long COVID group was characterized by persistent immune activation and proinflammatory responses for more than 180 days after initial infection……”

“…..including upregulation of JAK-STAT, interleukin-6, complement, metabolism and T cell exhaustion pathways.”

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“Similar findings were observed in a second cohort enrolled between 2023 and 2024, including convalescent controls (n = 20) and patients with LC (n = 18).”

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“These data suggest that Long COVID is characterized by persistent activation of chronic inflammatory pathways…..”

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M.Aid, et al

Long COVID involves activation of proinflammatory and immune exhaustion pathways

Nature Immunology — Volume 27 — January 2026