Flaskamp, Lavinia, Roubal, Constanze, Uddin, Steven et al. · Cells · 2022 · DOI
This study examined blood samples from people with long COVID and those who developed ME/CFS after COVID-19, comparing them to healthy controls. Researchers tested whether certain proteins in these blood samples could harm the cells that line blood vessels. They found that the blood of ME/CFS patients contained more of these harmful proteins, and the blood samples from both patient groups affected blood vessel cells in different ways that could contribute to the fatigue and other symptoms these patients experience.
This research provides mechanistic insight into how blood factors from ME/CFS patients might directly damage blood vessel function, a potential explanation for symptoms like fatigue and exercise intolerance. Identifying distinct differences between PCS and PCS/CFS patients at the molecular level could eventually help develop targeted treatments and improve patient stratification.
This study does not establish that AECAs or the observed blood changes are the primary cause of ME/CFS—only that they are associated with it. The findings are from laboratory experiments with isolated cells and cannot directly prove these mechanisms occur or cause symptoms in living patients. Additionally, correlation between these blood factors and symptom severity was not established.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Flaskamp, Lavinia, Roubal, Constanze, Uddin, Steven, Sotzny, Franziska, Kedor, Claudia, Bauer, Sandra, et al. (2022). Serum of Post-COVID-19 Syndrome Patients with or without ME/CFS Differentially Affects Endothelial Cell Function In Vitro.. Cells. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11152376
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-flaskamp-2022-serum-post,
author = {Flaskamp, Lavinia and Roubal, Constanze and Uddin, Steven and Sotzny, Franziska and Kedor, Claudia and Bauer, Sandra and Scheibenbogen, Carmen and Seifert, Martina},
title = {Serum of Post-COVID-19 Syndrome Patients with or without ME/CFS Differentially Affects Endothelial Cell Function In Vitro.},
journal = {Cells},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.3390/cells11152376},
note = {PubMed: 35954219},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/flaskamp-2022-serum-post},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/flaskamp-2022-serum-post
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