ArticleFrontiers in immunology2022
Case report: Persistence of residual antigen and RNA of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in tissues of two patients with long COVID.
Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT05823896 (An Interventional, Double-Blinded, 2-Arm Study to Investigate the Efficacy of Orally Administered Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir Compared with Placebo/Ritonavir in Non-hospitalized Adult Participants Suffering from Post-COVID), which is not on this map. Cited by 49 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
An Interventional, Double-Blinded, 2-Arm Study to Investigate the Efficacy of Orally Administered Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir Compared with Placebo/Ritonavir in Non-hospitalized Adult Participants Suffering from Post-COVID
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 65 citations in OpenAlex.
- Research progress and perspectives on the application of tyramide signal amplification-based multiplex immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence: a bibliometrics analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Pooled it
- Prolonged dysregulation and pathological changes in the upper respiratory tract of SARS-CoV-2 infected hamsters.Npj viruses · 2026Article
- Multiple Evanescent White Dot Syndrome (MEWDS) Following COVID-19 Infection: A Presumed Recurrence.Cureus · 2026Article
- Increased anti-nucleocapsid secretory IgA and consumption of complement component 3 in post-COVID syndrome patients.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- The effects of SARS-CoV-2 on bone homeostasis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Case Report: Post-mortem analysis of long-term inflammation after mild COVID-19.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Robust antibody and T cell responses tracked longitudinally in patients with long COVID.The Journal of general virology · 2025Article
- Viral persistence in long COVID: Research advances and treatment strategies.Infectious diseases & immunity · 2025Review
- Review
- Seasonal Coronavirus-Induced Immunological Imprinting and Previous Herpesvirus Infections in Patients With Long COVID.Journal of medical virology · 2025Article
- Do Long COVID and COVID Vaccine Side Effects Share Pathophysiological Picture and Biochemical Pathways?International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Targeting the SARS-CoV-2 reservoir in long COVID.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2025Review
- Review
- Virus-Induced Pathogenic Antibodies: Lessons from Long COVID and Dengue Hemorrhage Fever.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Cerebromicrovascular mechanisms contributing to long COVID: implications for neurocognitive health.GeroScience · 2025Review
- Article
- Article
- Molecular analysis of long COVID and new-onset diabetes mellitus: pathobiological relationships and current mechanistic views.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
- Vaccination and COVID-19: impact on long-COVID.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Immune dysregulation and endothelial dysfunction associate with a pro-thrombotic profile in Long COVID.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The World Health Organization has defined long COVID-19 (LC) as a condition that occurs in individuals with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection who exhibit persistent symptoms after its acute phase that last for at least two months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis. Since we had previously reported residual viral antigens in tissues of convalescent patients, we aimed to assess the presence of such antigens in long COVID tissues. Here, we established the presence of the residual virus in the appendix, skin, and breast tissues of 2 patients who exhibited LC symptoms 163 and 426 days after symptom onset. With multiplex immunohistochemistry, we detected viral nucleocapsid protein in all three tissues. The nucleocapsid protein was further observed to colocalize with macrophage marker CD68, suggesting that immune cells were direct targets of SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, using RNAscope, the presence of viral RNA was also detected. Our positive finding in the breast tissue is corroborated by the recent reports of immunocompromised patients experiencing LC symptoms and persistent viral replication. Overall, our findings and emerging LC studies raise the possibility that the gastrointestinal tract may function as a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.