BLITZ BUREAU
NEW DELHI: US researchers have identified a protein responsible for causing fatigue in people with long Covid, Alzheimer’s and other diseases.
While infections and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s are known to cause inflammation in the brain, the patients often develop muscle problems that seem to be independent of the central nervous system.
A team led by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that it is caused by a specific protein that travels from the brain to the muscles and leads to loss of muscle function.
The study, conducted in fruit flies and mice, also identified ways to block this process. This may help physicians treat or prevent muscle wasting caused by bacterial infections, Alzheimer’s disease, and long Covid.
Aaron Johnson, Associate professor of developmental biology explained that when people are illmessenger proteins from the brain travel through the bloodstream and reduce energy levels in skeletal muscle.
“The process reduces energy levels in skeletal muscle, decreasing the capacity to move and function normally,” he said, in the study, published in the journal Science Immunology.
