Posts Tagged ‘long covid’
September 17th, 2023 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Chronic fatigue is a debilitating symptom that affects many individuals, but what is the mechanism? A new study shows that a stress–induced protein called WASF3 localizes to mitochondria where it disrupts the assembly of the respiratory supercomplex, leading to decreased oxygen consumption and low exercise endurance. Alleviating endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress decreases WASF3 and restores mitochondrial function, indicating that WASF3 can impair skeletal muscle bioenergetics. The good news? This protein is now the target for treating fatigue symptoms. Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) afflicts more than 2 million people in the USA. People with ME/CFS live with debilitating symptoms, including exhaustion, exercise intolerance, cognitive problems, and worsening symptoms after even…