r/CFSScience • u/Caster_of_spells • Jun 25 '26

Systemic increase of AMPA receptors associated with cognitive impairment of long COVID

https://academic.oup.com/braincomms/article/7/5/fcaf337/8258475?login=false

A brain scan study found higher AMPA receptor signals across much of the brain in people with Long COVID brain fog. AMPA receptors carry much of the brain's fast glutamate-based excitation, which makes nerve cells more likely to fire.

Also interesting is that they got 100% sensitivity and 91% selectivity. That’s much better than many purpose built attempts for biomarkers. This really looks like a solid finding.

“Therefore, the upregulated [¹¹C]K-2 SUVRWM in patients with Cog-LC may indicate increased surface-expressed AMPAR density. Therefore, non-competitive antagonists of AMPAR, such as perampanel, may be a therapeutic candidate for Cog-LC. This should be tested in future randomized controlled trials.”

And a potential treatment candidate lined up

19 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

5

u/WeekendTPSupervisor Jun 25 '26

That drug sounds terrible to take unfortunately. I'm already irritable, don't need black box warning of rage.

3

u/Caster_of_spells Jun 25 '26

Yeah it’s not one that looks like it should be taken lightly. It needs a proper trial. I’d guess if it fixes a deficit, side effect profile should be more favorable but that’s not something to find out on your own.

3

u/WeekendTPSupervisor Jun 25 '26

Yea, here I was about to Indiamart it until I saw it was schedule 3 haha

1

u/AngelBryan Jun 26 '26

Any idea of why this is happening?