DYNAMO Covid-19
Research type
Research Study
Full title
DYNamic Assessment of Multi Organ level dysfunction in patients recovering from Covid-19
IRAS ID
287128
Contact name
Charlotte Bolton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Research Summary
There is emerging evidence suggesting people that have had severe Covid-19 and survived may experience symptoms of fatigue and develop underlying organ damage that may be long lasting. But very little is known about the nature of organ damage, what causes the symptoms of fatigue and whether these problems get better with time.
In this study we are hoping to the find out what changes occur within the body of people recovering from Covid-19 at 3-4 months and 9-10 months following discharge from hospital and whether these changes can help explain why some patients may experience fatigue. Measurements will be taken using state-of-the-art MRI imaging at rest and also during low intensity exercise, to mimic everyday activity. In doing so we then hope to use this information to adapt exercise rehabilitation programmes, making them better suited for Covid-19 survivors.
We are aiming to recruit 30 participants who will undergo a series of procedures over 3 study visits at 3-4 months and 9-10 months, to assess measures of fatigue and frailty, muscle quality and function, degree of metabolic resistance and extent of whole body organ damage.Summary of Results
The project was set out to look at what long term changes occur in the body of patients who survived severe COVID-19. We also wanted to see if any of these changes could help explain why some people have ongoing symptoms such as fatigue.
The study recruited people who had been critically unwell with COVID-19 5-7 months after being discharged from hospital as well as healthy control volunteers. We examined the muscles, brain, heart and the body’s ability to regulate sugar and fat storage. We also used exercise tests to see if there were any abnormalities in blood flow to the brain or heart that were not present at rest.
Our main findings were that patients reported feeling more fatigued compared to control volunteers and this was also reflected in measures of everyday function. However, this was not because of differences in muscle, heart or brain structure and function. Similarly, the exercise test did not reveal any changes in blood supply. Patients were more insulin resistant, that is their body required more insulin to appropriately regulate and use sugar as a fuel, compared to controls. Interestingly, patients were also more sedentary, though this was not statistically significant, but could be a reason for the insulin resistance. This is an important finding as it is known to increase the risk of developing diabetes. This study gives us important information about how we can develop our rehabilitation strategies to help a subset of people recover from COVID-19.
REC name
London - West London & GTAC Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/HRA/3612
Date of REC Opinion
21 Sep 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion