The drug is trimetazidine (seems very paternalistic to not mention it)

Teilnehmer (ca.): 50
Studienstart: März 2026

Offizieller Titel

Observational Study on Immunoadsorption (IA) in Patients With Autoantibody-Positive Post-Infectious Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Eine neue Beobachtungsstudie der Charité Berlin zur Immunadsorption bei #MECFS.

Untersucht wird unter anderem, ob Patienten mit bestimmten Autoantikörpern profitieren und ob sich Verbesserungen anhand von veränderten Gedächtnis-B-Zellen voraussagen lassen.

clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT075...

An ECG showing inappropriate sinus tachycardia. Fast heartbeats are shown on ECG results on graph paper, with persistent spikes. A orange and purple filter colors the results and makes them very eye-catching. The text reads, “The Sick Times. Long COVID research updates. A clinical trial for non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation failed in improving fatigue in Long COVID. A new study compared two common types of dysautonomia in Long COVID. German health insurance companies will cover four off-label drugs for Long COVID and related diseases.”

A clinical trial for non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation failed in improving fatigue in Long COVID. 45 participants used a specific transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) device, or a sham (placebo), during the four-week trial. Participants used the device for a mean time of 236 minutes per day. There was no difference in symptom improvements between the device and placebo groups. taVNS has been shown to help with fatigue in some autoimmune diseases, the authors wrote, adding that their results suggest Long COVID-associated fatigue may not share the same mechanisms for fatigue in those diseases.

A new study in compared two common types of dysautonomia in Long COVID, as well as their overlap. Researchers evaluated 270 participants who were referred to a dysautonomia clinic in Sweden; they found that 54% had postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), 15% had inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST), and 30% had both. The authors wrote that this overlap “strengthens the theory of shared pathophysiology of the [two] disorders.” People with IST had higher rates of high blood pressure compared to people with POTS and with both diagnoses. The study highlights how Long COVID can impact the cardiac system in different ways, “underscoring the need for tailored diagnostic and therapeutic approaches,” the authors concluded.

German health insurance companies will cover four off-label drugs for Long COVID and related diseases, the Federal Joint Committee recently announced. The drugs include ivabradine, a heart failure drug used off-label for POTS, and the diabetes drug metformin, which research has shown may prevent Long COVID. Two other drugs, agomelatine and vortioxetine, treat major depressive disorder and may help with fatigue and cognitive impairment of IACCs, the announcement states. Still, journalist Martin Rücker argues the policy is a symbol of public health failure as little is being done for people with these diseases.

🧠 Clinical trial: non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation failed in improving fatigue

🫀 New study: compared two common types of dysautonomia

🇩🇪 German health insurance companies will cover four off-label drugs for Long COVID and related diseases

#LongCOVID research updates: bit.ly/4ssQCoV

Clinical trials today are highly bureaucratic, expensive, and time-consuming. Most trials fail to recruit enough participants to answer their questions at all.

This great post by Adam Kroetsch explains how things got this way.

www.clinicaltrialsabundance.blog/p/clinical-t...

Disappointing. As I recall, there were a few studies suggesting the contrary.

Transcutaneous Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation Against Fatigue Syndrome in Patients with Long COVID: Results of the Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Pilot Trial COVIVA Neurology and Therapy - Fatigue is the most prevalent symptom in “long COVID”, affecting 6–7% of patients after COVID-19 infection. Its pathophysiology remains unclear, with viral...

8) Link to the (open-access) study:

Gierthmuehlen et al. 2026. Transcutaneous Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation Against Fatigue Syndrome in Patients with Long COVID: Results of the Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Pilot Trial COVIVA.

1) 🇩🇪 A small randomized trial tested vagus nerve stimulation in 45 Long Covid patients but found that it didn't have more effect than a sham device.

A brief summary.

Screenshot of the RECOVER-VITAL trial registration

1) RECOVER-VITAL results are in.

The trial tested long-term Paxlovid to treat viral persistence. It included more than 900 Long Covid patients, tested multiple outcomes for PEM, cognitive and autonomic dysfunction, but none showed significant improvement.

A brief summary...

10) Here's the link to the study:

Reis et al. 2026.The Effect of Fluvoxamine and Metformin for Fatigue in Patients With Long COVID: An Adaptive Randomized Trial.
www.acpjournals.org/...

4) The graph below shows that all groups improved a lot, including the placebo group (from a score of 5.5 to less to 3).

After 60 days, the fatigue score in the fluvoxamine group had decreased with 0.43 points (95% credible interval: 0.80-0.07) more than in the placebo group.

1) 🇧🇷 A big trial from Brazil reports that the antidepressant fluvoxamine improved fatigue in Long Covid patients while the diabetes drug Metformin had no effect.

The effect of fluvoxamine unfortunately looks quite small and it's unclear if it is clinically significant.

RECOVER-AUTONOMIC clinical trial results shared at 2026 ACC Conference The RECOVER-AUTONOMIC (Ivabradine) clinical trial tested whether ivabradine, an oral medication used to lower heart rate, could be used to manage a Long COVID symptom called postural orthostatic tachy...

From RECOVER-AUTONOMIC: “Participant surveys showed that treatment with ivabradine did not significantly improve POTS symptoms in adults with Long COVID POTS. Ivabradine did produce a significant reduction in heart rate compared to placebo, but the lower heart rate did not improve POTS symptoms.”

2) They pooled antibodies from 34 LC patients into 24 mice, and antibodies from 15 controls into 8 mice.

Results are in the graph below. The mice that received LC antibodies had lower mechanical sensory thresholds (von Frey test) and heat latency (Hargreaves test).

Missed that Belgian one. Very exciting line of research!

10) Link to the paper:

Chen et al. 2026. Transfer of IgG from long COVID patients induces symptomology in mice.

9) The antibody transfer was inspired by similar experiments in fibromyalgia by the British team of Andreas Goebel.

Two other LC teams, the US team of Iwasaki and a Belgian group, have already reported similar results.

Links:
www.biorxiv.org/cont...
www.medrxiv.org/cont...

1) Dutch researchers found that transferring antibodies from Long Covid patients into mice caused increased pain sensitivity, which was not seen in mice receiving antibodies from healthy controls.

Our paper is (finally) out in @cp-cellrepmed.bsky.social: antibodies from #LongCOVID patients transfer symptoms to mice, pointing to a potential causal role for autoimmunity: www.cell.com/cell-reports... @amsterdamumc.bsky.social @umcutrecht.bsky.social 1/12

Microtesla Magnetic Therapy for cognitive impairment in post-acute sequelae of SARS CoV-2: A randomized controlled feasibility study Background Cognitive impairment has significant implications for function and quality of life and is common in individuals with post-acute sequelae of SARS CoV-2, also known as long COVID (LC). Emerging evidence suggests that sustained neuroinflammation, cerebrovascular dysfunction, and mitochondrial impairment are contributors to cognitive symptoms. Microtesla Magnetic Therapy (MMT) is a low-amplitude radiofrequency magnetic field intervention that has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects in preclinical models, suggesting it may be valuable in the management of cognitive impairment from LC and other neurological disorders. This study is the first randomized controlled trial to evaluate MMT for LC-related cognitive impairment. Objective To evaluate the feasibility, safety, and preliminary efficacy of an at-home MMT intervention in individuals with moderate-to-severe cognitive impairment from LC. Methods In this prospective feasibility study, 30 participants with LC-related cognitive impairment were randomized (2:1) to receive active or sham MMT. Participants self-administered 15-minute treatments at home with remote monitoring twice weekly for 4 weeks using a head-worn device that delivered a nonthermal radiofrequency magnetic field to the whole brain. Feasibility was defined as completion of at least 80% of prescribed treatments and all study visits. Secondary outcomes included safety, cognitive function, and self-reported mood and quality of life assessed at baseline, post-treatment (Week 4), and follow-up (Week 8). Results Feasibility was high, with 100% treatment adherence among participants who completed the study and strong usability ratings for at-home administration. There were no device-related adverse events. Compared with sham, participants receiving active MMT showed significantly greater improvements from baseline to Week 8 in WAIS-IV Digit Span Sequencing (p= 0.026), HVLT-R Recall (p= 0.044), and D-KEFS Color Naming (p= 0.049). Additional measures of attention, processing speed, and executive function demonstrated favorable trends in the active group. Emotional well-being, assessed by the SF-36, improved significantly in the active group at Week 8 compared with sham (p= 0.017), and mood symptoms showed clinically meaningful improvement. Conclusions Administration of the MMT intervention at home was feasible, safe, and well tolerated in individuals with cognitive impairment from LC. Preliminary findings suggest sustained clinically meaningful improvements in multiple cognitive domains and mood following treatment. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov [NCT06739668][1], <https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06739668>, 2024-12-17 ### Competing Interest Statement At the time of submission, authors Blake Gurfein and David Maltz were employed at Fareon, Inc. The other authors have no competing interests to declare. ### Clinical Trial NCT06739668 ### Funding Statement This study was funded by Fareon, Inc (formerly Humanity Neurotech). ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: IRB of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai gave ethical approval for this work. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors. [1]: /lookup/external-ref?link_type=CLINTRIALGOV&access_num=NCT06739668&atom=%2Fmedrxiv%2Fearly%2F2026%2F03%2F23%2F2026.03.18.26348530.atom

9) The preprint can be found here:

Canori et al. 2026. Microtesla Magnetic Therapy for cognitive impairment in post-acute sequelae of SARS CoV-2: A randomized controlled feasibility study

1) Had a look at Putrino's trial on "Microtesla Magnetic Therapy" for Long Covid.

Unfortunately, I don't think the trial shows effectiveness. They used 44 outcomes that weren't pre-registered or corrected for multiple comparisons so differences might simply be due to chance.

Lyme disease vaccine shows 70 percent efficacy, Pfizer says If approved by regulators, it could become the only Lyme disease vaccine available for people — although it would not be the first.

You can already get a Lyme vaccine for your dog. Maybe humans will soon have the same option for protection.

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

We’re launching a placebo-controlled study of rapamycin for #MECFS and #LongCOVID. Early data from our Phase II trial shows promise — now we must test it under rigorous blinded conditions. Help us make it happen. Donate to support the study. www.simmaronresearch.com/donate
#ME #Rapamycin

I’ve tried 14 of these, and then some. IVIg, midodrine, and Mestinon are the ones on the list I’d most highly recommend; tVNS not on the list; and exercise-based physical therapy once you’re doing some of these things and want to test if it’s working well.

📢 Researchers! The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) is taking applications for the 2026 Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) Awards. Areas include #MECFS, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, & Mitochondrial Disease, among others.
Learn more: https://ow.ly/HPv150YrACP

A phase 2a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial of the SARS-CoV-2-specific monoclonal antibody AER002 in people with Long COVID Long COVID is a disabling chronic illness with no proven treatments. Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 has been proposed as a biological driver of the disease. We conducted a placebo-controlled, double-blind,...

UCSF study of 36 people with Long COVID finds a single infusion of the SARS-CoV-2 antibody AER002 was safe but did not improve symptoms or quality of life versus placebo though people with lower virus antibody levels showed hints of benefit.

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

Last week a long article about #BC007 was published here in Germany.

In short: A new company named APTA Therapeutics, which largely consists of former BerlinCures employees, will continue to explore the drug's potential for #MECFS and #LongCOVID.

www.riffreporter.de/de/wissen/lo...

Promotional graphic for an ME/CFS research opportunity featuring lab glassware and a microscope in a blue-toned laboratory; logos for Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute and The University of Melbourne appear at the top, and Emerge Australia logo at the bottom. Text reads: “ME/CFS research opportunity” and “How is blood flow changed in those with ME/CFS and OI during exercise and how does that impact PEM?”

Recruitment call 📣

The Baker Institute / Uni of Melbourne are recruiting adults (18+) with ME/CFS or orthostatic intolerance for a study in Melbourne (2 clinic visits, parking + time reimbursed).

More info: zurl.co/tYcRE

#MECFS #EmergeAustralia #BakerInstitute

1) 🇰🇷 A study from South-Korea shows that Metformin (the diabetes drug) and Ursodeoxycholic Acid (a bile acid) are not effective in Long Covid.

Most patients improved at lot, even those in the placebo group.

Divisive F.D.A. Vaccine Regulator Resigns Dr. Vinay Prasad drew criticism for decisions that overrode agency scientists and rejected potential drugs.

Breaking News: Dr. Vinay Prasad, a polarizing figure at the FDA who oversaw vaccines, is leaving the agency. As the FDA’s chief science and medical officer, he made several controversial decisions, including overruling career scientists on some vaccine approvals.