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Mitochondrial Function in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells, Muscle, and Skin of Long COVID Patients
NCT07134673 · Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel
In plain English
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Official title
Mitochondrial Oxygen Consumption and Substrate Utilisation In Vitro in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells, and In Vivo on Muscle and Skin in Long COVID Patients and Convalescent Individuals: A Case-Control and Diagnostic Accuracy Study
About this study
Mitochondria are structures inside cells that are responsible for producing energy from nutrients through a series of steps, using oxygen. To have an idea of how well the mitochondria can produce energy, we can measure how much oxygen they use. The goal of this study is to:
1. To compare the oxygen use between people with long COVID and people who completely recovered after COVID-19, using three techniques that measure the oxygen use in blood cells, on the skin and in the muscle
2. To test how similar these three techniques are in measuring the oxygen used in the three different tissues
Participants will:
* Complete surveys,
* Wear an activity tracker (7 days),
* Undergo several non-invasive tests, and
* Donate a blood sample The study will take place in UZ Brussel hospital and will take 2 study visits, approximately 7 days apart.
Eligibility criteria
Individuals with long COVID:
Inclusion criteria:
* Long COVID diagnosis, based on the WHO definition;
* Presence of long COVID symptoms for a minimum of 6 months.
* History of confirmed or documented SARS-CoV-2 infection.
* Adult (≥18 years of age).
* Post-COVID-19 Functional Status Scale grade 2-4, while they had a grade 0 before the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Exclusion criteria:
* Pre-existing chronic diseases potentially affecting the functional status scale.
* Treatment with metabolism altering drugs.
* \> 10 standard units of alcohol (10 grams of alcohol/glass) per week.
* Unable to understand oral and written instructions in Dutch, French or English.
* Allergies to medical adhesive bandages.
* Porphyria and other skin conditions aggravated by sunlight.
Convalescent individuals
Inclusion criteria:
* History of confirmed or documented SARS-CoV-2 infection.
* Complete recovery after the SARS-CoV-2 infection, no history of long COVID based on the WHO definition;
* Post-COVID-19 Functional Status Scale \[2\] grade 0 both before the infection and currently.
* Adult (≥18 years of age).
Exclusion criteria:
* Pre-existing chronic non-communicable diseases (e.g. hypertension, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes).
* Treatment with metabolism altering drugs.
* \> 10 standard units of alcohol (10 grams of alcohol/glass) per week.
* Unable to understand oral and written instructions in Dutch, French or English.
* Allergies to medical adhesive bandages.
* Porphyria and other skin conditions aggravated by sunlight.
Study design
Enrollment target: 54 participants
Age groups: adult, older_adult
Timeline
Starts: 2026-01-21
Estimated completion: 2026-07
Last updated: 2026-04-22
Primary outcomes
- • Basal Oxygen Consumption rate (pmol O2/min) (Blood sample is taken during the second study visit (approximately 7 days after the first study visit) and the PBMCs are cryopreserved until analysis (after all participants have been recruited, estimated to be within 1 year of the start of the study))
- • Tissue Saturation Index (TSI) (Second study visit (approximately 7 days after the first study visit))
- • Mitochondrial oxygen tension (mitoPO2) (mmHg/s) (Second study visit (approximately 7 days after the first study visit))
Sponsor
Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel · other
Contacts & investigators
ContactBerenice G. Jimenez Garcia, Master of Science · contact · berenice.gabriela.jimenez.garcia@vub.be · +3224749624
InvestigatorElisabeth De Waele, MD. PhD. · principal_investigator, Vitality Research Group, Metabolism and Nutrition, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Clinical Nutrition Department, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel (UZ Brussel)
All locations (1)
Laarbeeklaan 101Recruiting
Jette, Brussels Capital, Belgium