Patterns of inflammation detected in long COVID blood samples

Usher Institute researchers Nazir Lone, Matthew Thorpe, Annemarie Docherty, Ewen Harrison and Kenneth Baillie are among the co-authors of the latest study shedding light on long COVID inflammation patterns.

Published in Nature Immunology, the study reveals distinct inflammation patterns in the blood of long COVID patients, offering potential targets for immune therapies.

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Findings from the largest UK study of patients hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2 infection show that long COVID leads to ongoing inflammation which can be detected in the blood.

In an analysis of more than 650 people who had been hospitalised with severe COVID-19, patients with prolonged symptoms showed evidence of immune system activation.

The exact pattern of this activation varied depending on the sort of symptoms that they predominantly had – for example, mainly fatigue or cognitive impairment.

The research suggests that existing drugs which modulate the body’s immune system could be helpful in treating long COVID and should be investigated in future clinical trials.

Led by Imperial College London, the study is the latest from collaborative UK-wide consortia, PHOSP-COVID, and ISARIC-4C. It involves scientists and clinicians from institutions including The University of Edinburgh, the Universities of Leicester and Liverpool, among others. The study was funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Cite as

Liew, F., Efstathiou, C., Fontanella, S. et al. Large-scale phenotyping of patients with long COVID post-hospitalization reveals mechanistic subtypes of disease. Nat Immunol 25, 607–621 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-024-01778-0

Further information

Read the full paper - Large-scale phenotyping of patients with long COVID post-hospitalization reveals mechanistic subtypes of disease | Nature Immunology

Read Imperial’s news story - Long COVID leaves telltale traces in the blood | Imperial News | Imperial College London

Find out more about UK Research and Innovation | UKRI

Find out more about National Institute for Health and Care Research | NIHR