Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42131622›Full record

ArticleOpen forum infectious diseases2026

Plasma Extracellular Vesicle Surface Marker Profiling Reveals Immune Cell-Associated Mitochondrial Membrane Potential Alterations in Long COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Gentaro Ikeda, Mariko Koike-Ieki, Hiroyuki Inoue, Arya V Dadhania, Vanessa El Kamari, Prasanna Jagannathan, Linda N Geng, Mitchell G Miglis, Robert W Shafer, Phillip C Yang and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Open forum infectious diseases, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. VSL#3British journal of biomedical science · 2026
    Trial
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

11 authors.

Gentaro IkedaStanford Cardiovascular Institute and Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-8990
Mariko Koike-IekiStanford Cardiovascular Institute and Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Hiroyuki InoueStanford Cardiovascular Institute and Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Arya V DadhaniaDivision of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Vanessa El KamariDivision of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4512-5424
Prasanna JagannathanDivision of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6305-758X
Linda N GengDivision of Primary Care Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Mitchell G MiglisDepartment of Neurology and Neurological Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Robert W ShaferDivision of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Phillip C YangStanford Cardiovascular Institute and Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Hector Fabio BonillaDivision of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Long COVID (LC) is characterized by symptoms persisting at least 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection and affecting multiple organ systems. Diagnosis relies on subjective criteria without established biomarkers. Immune dysregulation and mitochondrial dysfunction are implicated in LC pathophysiology. Given clinical overlap with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), we investigated whether plasma extracellular vesicles (EVs) capture shared molecular signatures. Methods: Plasma EVs from 125 individuals across pandemic-era and prepandemic cohorts were analyzed. The pandemic-era cohort included COVID-Recovered, LC with ME/CFS phenotype (LC-ME/CFS), and ME/CFS without infection (pan-ME/CFS). The prepandemic cohort included ME/CFS and matched controls. Extracellular vesicles were isolated using size-exclusion chromatography. Concentration and size were assessed by nanoparticle tracking analysis, and surface markers and mitochondrial membrane potential were evaluated by flow cytometry. Results: Both pan-ME/CFS and LC-ME/CFS exhibited elevated EV concentrations compared with COVID-recovered controls after false discovery rate (FDR) correction ( Conclusions: ME/CFS and LC-ME/CFS demonstrate partially overlapping immune cell-associated EV alterations. Mitochondrial membrane potential alterations within selected immune-derived EV subsets, particularly B cell-associated EVs, suggest immune-metabolic involvement. Plasma EV profiling may inform future biomarker development.

Indexed as

Biomarkerextracellular vesiclesLong COVIDMyalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Identifiers

PMID42131622
PMCPMC13166156

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.