Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37919310›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2023

Treatment of 95 post-Covid patients with SSRIs.

Carla P Rus, Bert E K de Vries, Ingmar E J de Vries, Idelette Nutma, J J Sandra Kooij

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.

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  10. Treatments for Long COVID autonomic dysfunction: a scoping review.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Carla P RusIndependent Researcher, The Hague, The Netherlands. rusvries@ziggo.nl.
Bert E K de VriesIndependent Researcher, The Hague, The Netherlands.
Ingmar E J de VriesDonders Institute, Radboud University, 6525 EN, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Idelette NutmaIndependent Researcher, The Hague, The Netherlands.
J J Sandra KooijDepartment of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC/VUMC, 1081 HJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
PsyQ · NLUniversity of Trento · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

After Covid-19 infection, 12.5% develops post-Covid-syndrome (PCS). Symptoms indicate numerous affected organ systems. After a year, chronic fatigue, dysautonomia and neurological and neuropsychiatric complaints predominate. In this study, 95 PCS patients were treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). This study used an exploratory questionnaire and found that two-thirds of patients had a reasonably good to strong response on SSRIs, over a quarter of patients had moderate response, while 10% reported no response. Overall, patients experienced substantial improved well-being. Brainfog and sensory overload decreased most, followed by chronic fatigue and dysautonomia. Outcomes were measured with three different measures that correlated strongly with each other. The response to SSRIs in PCS conditions was explained by seven possible neurobiological mechanisms based on recent literature on PCS integrated with already existing knowledge. Important for understanding these mechanisms is the underlying biochemical interaction between various neurotransmitter systems and parts of the immune system, and their dysregulation in PCS. The main link appears to be with the metabolic kynurenine pathway (KP) which interacts extensively with the immune system. The KP uses the same precursor as serotonin: tryptophan. The KP is overactive in PCS which maintains inflammation and which causes a lack of tryptophan. Finally, potential avenues for future research to advance this line of clinical research are discussed.

Indexed as

COVID-19Fatigue Syndrome, ChronicPrimary DysautonomiasHumansKynurenineSelective Serotonin Reuptake InhibitorsTryptophanKynurenineSelective Serotonin Reuptake InhibitorsTryptophan

Identifiers

PMID37919310
PMCPMC10622561
OpenAlexW4388223599

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.