Aussie breakthrough on the long Covid condition that leaves sufferers with symptoms similar to 'traumatic brain injury'

[SWAlexander]

• Australian researchers have brought the world a step closer to curing brain fog
• Researchers have proven there is a physical reason for the nebulous condition
• Trials can now begin for treatments for the condition after pin-pointing a toxin
• The findings show 'brain fog' could take a huge toll on patients
• Long Covid isn't in the brain; a complex series of reactions is responsible
• Stimulated chemicals lead to nerve damage which can lead to brain fog

Excerpt:
There are some drugs that are being developed and trialed on other diseases that can have an effect on this pathway. It gives us the opportunity to look at it much more carefully and perhaps explore other therapeutic options.

'These things (trialling cures) are always frustratingly slow but having a target, hopefully we'll be able to fast track this with the support of other researchers around the world...

In a St Vincent's study of 128 patients over 12 months researchers found the cognitive impacts of long Covid can last for longer than a year, and for some may even be permanent.

The study found one in five of the patients had cognitive issues which could be traced back to one particular pathway in the body.

When infected, the Kynurenine pathway – responsible for balances of energy, mood and the immune system – can raise the level of two chemicals to detrimental affect.

Infections to the system can potentially result in a rise in quinolinic acid and 3 Hydroxyanthranilic Acid.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-symptoms-similar-traumatic-brain-injury.html

 

[BrightCandle]

Resistance exercise is known to reduce it, well that sucks. This is really the trap, our immune system is trying hard to amp up, this pathway is slowing it down and the route out is impossible without exercise and that will produce enormous amounts of problems because the body is inefficiently producing energy and damaging itself if it does so. Doesn't look like any inhibitors have made it out of the lab yet either.

The thing is we already know from Ron's theories that Tryptophan isn't getting converted properly into Seratonin and Kynurenine so I am wondering if there is where these disease are similar but different (one too low and one too high) or whether one of them is wrong about the actual problem and its a little further up or down the chain.

 

[heapsreal]

Resistance exercise is known to reduce it, well that sucks. This is really the trap, our immune system is trying hard to amp up, this pathway is slowing it down and the route out is impossible without exercise and that will produce enormous amounts of problems because the body is inefficiently producing energy and damaging itself if it does so. Doesn't look like any inhibitors have made it out of the lab yet either.

The thing is we already know from Ron's theories that Tryptophan isn't getting converted properly into Seratonin and Kynurenine so I am wondering if there is where these disease are similar but different (one too low and one too high) or whether one of them is wrong about the actual problem and its a little further up or down the chain.

Can we bypass these systems??? Maybe high dose 5htp??? For serotonin?

 

[BrightCandle]

Can we bypass these systems??? Maybe high dose 5htp??? For serotonin?

That is what I have been doing for a while, taking everything downstream that I could find in supplements.

With this theory we have a specific target for the cause of brain fog in quinolinic acid and if you look that up some basic things like Coffee, Curcumin and B6 all come up as reducing it a bit. I was hoping I might find a KMO inhibitator I could purchase somewhere but alas I think they are not really out of the research lab yet and available as a drug you can buy.

 

[heapsreal]

That is what I have been doing for a while, taking everything downstream that I could find in supplements.

With this theory we have a specific target for the cause of brain fog in quinolinic acid and if you look that up some basic things like Coffee, Curcumin and B6 all come up as reducing it a bit. I was hoping I might find a KMO inhibitator I could purchase somewhere but alas I think they are not really out of the research lab yet and available as a drug you can buy.

I take only 100mg 5htp. Vitamin b6 at 600mg and it'd also 100mg in my b complex tablet.
5htp help mood, by?.? Not really treating brain fog??

 

[Hip]

The kynurenine pathway and quinolinic acid were one of the first things I looked into when I first developed ME/CFS. I was trying to find ways to inhibit quinolinic acid release in the brain.

I discovered that beta carbolines (also called norharmane, or norharman) inhibit the production of quinolinic acid. Ref: see the last paragraph in this article.

So I set about trying some beta carbolines.

Beta carbolines are found in the "companion plants" (usually Banisteriopsis caapi or Peganum harmala) employed in the Amazonian psychedelic brew called ayahuasca.

The main plant of the ayahuasca brew is Psychotria viridis: this contains the main psychoactive substance DMT. The companion plants contain beta carbolines, which are not as psychoactive as DMT. The beta carbolines are needed in the ayahuasca brew to facilitate the absorption of DMT in the stomach (DMT is orally inactive, as DMT is metabolized in the gut by the enzyme MAO, but beta carbolines disable MAO).


Now I have heard several stories of ME/CFS patients reporting complete remission during an ayahuasca trip. My theory is that may not be the DMT which is leading to remissions, but may be the beta carbolines, which are producing remission by inhibition of quinolinic acid.

So I bought some Peganum harmala (Syrian rue) seeds, which are cheap and legal, and started testing them. Normal dosing for Syrian rue seeds is around 5 to 10 grams, made as a tea, when they are used to induce a psychedelic trip.

I started with low milligram doses, as I did not want to experience a trip. I did not notice much from doses up to 100 mg.

Unfortunately when I reached 200 mg, I started getting some mental health side effects, forcing me to stop my experiments. But I am prone to these side effects, and I don't think they would occur in most ME/CFS patients.

I was hoping that I would be able to find a lowish dose of Syrian rue seeds that would reduce brain fog by inhibiting quinolinic acid, but without causing any psychedelic trip effects.

 

[lyran]

Could Roflumilast bring some help?

Roflumilast, a cAMP-Specific Phosphodiesterase-4 Inhibitor, Reduces Oxidative Stress and Improves Synapse Functions in Human Cortical Neurons Exposed to the Excitotoxin Quinolinic Acid

 

[Hip]

Could Roflumilast bring some help?

Roflumilast, a cAMP-Specific Phosphodiesterase-4 Inhibitor, Reduces Oxidative Stress and Improves Synapse Functions in Human Cortical Neurons Exposed to the Excitotoxin Quinolinic Acid

It might do.

There are a number of substances that can help protect against the effects of quinolinic acid, I listed some of them in this post.


The kynurenine pathway which converts tryptophan into quinolinic acid is this one:

Where:
IDO = indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase
TDO = tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase
KMO = kynurenine monooxygenase
KYNU = kynureninase
3-HAO = 3-hydroxyanthranilate 3,4-dioxygenase
QPRT = quinolinate phosphoribosyl transferase.

Source: here

So inhibiting any steps along this pathway may reduce quinolinic acid levels. You could target the enzymes IDO, KMO, KYNU or 3-HAO in order to reduce quinolinic acid.

 

[Zahr82]

Is this study beneficial for long covid in general? Or just the brain fog

 

[SWAlexander]

Brain fog and over-medication are one reason, I´ll try VEDICINALS-9 as soon I can get off methotrexate.
https://www.vedicinals.com/

 

[frozenborderline]

When infected, the Kynurenine pathway – responsible for balances of energy, mood and the immune system – can raise the level of two chemicals to detrimental affect.

Interesting. Kynurenine is an nmda antagonist so it fits into a lot of people's experience of nmda antagonists or similar meds helping the condition, like ketamine. If kynurenine is overly low like in robert phairs metabolic trap theory... that makes a lot of sense with what we know about the disease in general.

 

[frozenborderline]

I have tbi like symptoms , including sudden light sensitivity. A lot of my symptoms make sense with the craniocervical instability I have but I also had covid at one point ... and when I went to a neuropthalmologist he said my eye symptoms were like post concussion syndrome without having had a concussion. He also said a lot of people get symptoms like that after covid infection or after the vaccine and they don't really know the mechanism.

My friend who had long covid and I talked about brain fog in me/cfs and long covid in these podcast episodes, part of a larger series we haven't finished yet :

 

[frozenborderline]

I have tbi like symptoms , including sudden light sensitivity. A lot of my symptoms make sense with the craniocervical instability I have but I also had covid at one point ... and when I went to a neuropthalmologist he said my eye symptoms were like post concussion syndrome without having had a concussion. He also said a lot of people get symptoms like that after covid infection or after the vaccine and they don't really know the mechanism.

My friend who had long covid and I talked about brain fog in me/cfs and long covid in these podcast episodes, part of a larger series we haven't finished yet :

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/3rYds

 

[frozenborderline]

Listen to Many seasons in Hell: Post-infectious chronic disease with @death__denial, a playlist by Headless Youth Podcast on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/3rYds