Trial reportJournal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle2025
Muscle Abnormalities in Nonhospitalised Patients With Post-COVID-19 Condition.
Trial report in Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05445830 (Physiological Characterization of Functional Limitations and Exercise Intolerance in Post-COVID Patients), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
Physiological Characterization of Functional Limitations and Exercise Intolerance in Post-COVID Patients
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Muscle Abnormalities in Nonhospitalised Patients With Post-COVID-19 Condition.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Trial
- Post-COVID-19 Muscle Weakness and Recovery Patterns After Mild-to-Moderate Infection: A Retrospective Analysis of a Structured Rehabilitation Program Using the MRC Scale.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPost-COVID condition (PCC) affects ~10% of SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals and manifests as persistent symptoms such as fatigue, exercise intolerance and muscle weakness. This study aimed to assess the skeletal muscle of these patients and compare them with healthy controls.
methodsBiopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis muscle of 28 nonhospitalised PCC patients without concomitant diseases (75% women, mean age 46.4 ± 10.4 years) and 28 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (79% women, mean age 46.6 ± 8.7 years). The analysis included morphological and pathological alterations, fibre type composition, fibre cross-sectional area, capillarisation, number of myonuclei, presence of developmental myosin, CD68
resultsPCC patients, compared to controls, had a higher percentage of angulated fibres (median [IQR] 0.43 [0.00-3.20] vs. 0.00 [0.00-0.00]; p < 0.001), small, rounded fibres (0.21 [0.00-1.20] vs. 0.00 [0.00-0.00]; p < 0.001) and fibres expressing fetal myosin (0.26 [0.00-1.15] vs. 0.00 [0.00-0.17]; p = 0.015). Semiquantitative analysis showed nuclear clumps (18/27, 66.6%), hypertrophic fibres (9/27, 33.3%) and fibrosis (22/27, 81.4%) in PCC patients. Fibre cross-sectional area was significantly lower in PCC patients (4031 ± 1365 vs. 4982 ± 1463 μm
conclusionsNonhospitalised patients with PCC show signs of morphological and pathological muscle changes suggestive of degeneration and regeneration. The smaller overall fibre size, lower number of phospholipids, reduced mitochondrial oxidative capacity and lower capillarisation in these patients may be a consequence of reduced physical activity levels. The presence of clusters of atrophied angular and round-shaped fibres, signs of inflammation and fibrosis and increased expression of fetal myosin may reflect myopathic and neurogenic post-viral effects.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05445830.
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