Long-COVID mechanisms
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Mechanisms underlying long-term fatigue and exercise intolerance following CoV-2 infection
IRAS ID
290298
Contact name
Alun Hughes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2020/12/27, UCL Data Protection Registration Number
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus responsible for the on-going pandemic (COVID-19). This virus causes severe illness in humans. Besides acute clinical symptoms, persistent symptoms of fatigue and exercise intolerance have been observed and patients report a failure to return to their pre-infection functional state. The mechanisms underlying persistent exercise intolerance and fatigue are not fully understood and the consequent impact of both the acute and persistent insult on future disease risk is unknown.
The objective of this study is to better understand why some people with Long Covid have severely impaired capacity to exercise while others, despite having symptoms of fatigue, are more able to exercise. A better understanding of the factors related to exercise impairment will help clinical teams to provide better treatment and care for Long Covid patients and may also be more widely relevant to other disease conditions characterized by on-going fatigue and exercise intolerance.
Participants will be eligible if they have been diagnosed with CoV-2 and are experiencing persistent symptoms of fatigue and/or exercise intolerance, this will be established at their University College London Hospital (UCLH) outpatient appointment. Eligible participants will be invited to attend a clinic visit at the Bloomsbury Centre for Clinical Phenotyping (BCCP) University College London (UCL) for all investigations. There will be 2 clinic visits, the first will be within a week of their out-patient appointment and the second will be 9-12 months later. Key tests included at both research clinic visits are: a sub-maximal exercise test (up to moderate intensity exertion), a heart and blood vessel ultrasound scan, blood pressure measurements, some further non-invasive vascular measurements, a blood sample, muscle function measurements and a test of nervous system function. Each research visit will last for ~4 hours. Participants will also wear an activity monitor for 1 week.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/EM/0031
Date of REC Opinion
24 Feb 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion