{"id":12806,"date":"2025-08-03T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=12806"},"modified":"2025-08-01T14:33:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T18:33:55","slug":"discovery-explains-long-covid-breathing-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=12806","title":{"rendered":"Discovery Explains Long COVID Breathing Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>UVA Health researchers have made a discovery about the immune system that explains breathing problems in Long COVID. From left: Alexandra Kadl MD; Sepideh Dolatshahi, PhD; Lyndsey Muehling, PhD; Judith Woodfolk, MBChB, PhD; Glenda Canderan, PhD; and Shay Ladd, BS.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Groundbreaking research from the School of Medicine has revealed crucial new insights into the immune systems of COVID-19 survivors, particularly those struggling with persistent breathing issues. The study shows that these patients have distinct changes in their immune system that link to the severity of their lung damage. The discovery holds promise for developing targeted treatments for the lung complications of Long COVID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers were struck by the diversity of immune patterns they discovered, and they say the findings highlight how varied the underlying drivers of Long COVID can be, even among patients with the same symptom.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A key innovation of the study was its ability to connect immune data from the blood with lung injury. For the first time, the team was able to differentiate immune patterns in patients suffering from more severe lung injury, offering a path toward more personalized and effective treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLong COVID is complex, with a variety of potential underlying causes. For this reason, understanding the immune response in patients with lung disease has been especially difficult,\u201d said UVA Health\u2019s Judith A. Woodfolk, MBChB, PhD, part of the Department of Medicine\u2019s Division of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology. \u201cOur findings reveal crucial differences in the blood that reflect the extent of lung damage. By analyzing many different immune measures, we can pinpoint potential targets that may not only predict who might experience worse outcomes but also help guide more tailored and effective treatments in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Understanding Long COVID<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To dive deeper into the persistent respiratory symptoms of Long COVID, Woodfolk and her team examined extensive clinical and immune datasets from 110 patients at UVA Health\u2019s Long COVID Clinic. Most had been hospitalized with severe COVID-19 before vaccines were available, and many had been on ventilators during their hospital stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers used a form of artificial intelligence called machine learning to study long-term changes in patients\u2019 T cells, a type of immune cell.&nbsp;Their analysis found marked differences in the numbers and types of T cells according to the severity of lung disease. After analyzing hundreds of additional cellular and molecular features, the team was able to link these changes in T cells to other important components of the immune system. This approach revealed strikingly different \u201cimmune landscapes\u201d in patients with milder lung disease compared with more severe cases hallmarked by lung fibrosis (scarring).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBy uncovering distinct immune patterns in patients who have different types of restrictive lung disease after infection, we can better understand the immune drivers of lung injury and how these patterns may reflect different stages of the same disease process,\u201d Woodfolk said. \u201cOur ability to distinguish immune changes linked to lung disease from those linked to other disorders typical of Long COVID also adds a new dimension to our understanding of this complex illness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur ultimate goal is to help patients by guiding new treatments that could stop or even reverse lung damage caused by COVID-19,\u201d Woodfolk added \u201cThis study simply would not have been possible without the dedication of an exceptional team of physicians and scientists and the participation of patient volunteers. We\u2019re excited to broaden our strategy into new areas so we can gain insight into other types of chronic lung diseases and inflammatory conditions.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UVA Health researchers have made a discovery about the immune system that explains breathing problems in Long COVID. From left: Alexandra Kadl MD; Sepideh Dolatshahi, PhD; Lyndsey Muehling, PhD; Judith [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[751,836,289,290,292,945,964],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chronic-lung-disease","category-immune-system","category-long-haul-disease","category-long-term-effects","category-lung","category-shortness-of-breath","category-t-cell"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12806"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12807,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12806\/revisions\/12807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}