Kitselman A, Kayla, Bédard-Matteau, Jérôme, Rousseau, Simon et al. · Vascular pharmacology · 2024 · DOI
This review examines how COVID-19 and long COVID affect blood vessel health differently in men and women. The authors look at how the virus can damage the inner lining of blood vessels, trigger immune problems, and potentially lead to ME/CFS symptoms. They explore whether biological sex differences explain why some people recover while others develop long-term symptoms like fatigue.
Understanding sex differences in how COVID-19 damages blood vessels and triggers ME/CFS is critical for developing sex-informed treatment approaches and identifying why some patients develop chronic symptoms. This review consolidates evidence linking vascular dysfunction to ME/CFS symptoms, potentially opening new therapeutic targets for long COVID patients.
As a narrative review rather than a primary research study, this article does not present original experimental data and cannot prove causation between endothelial dysfunction and ME/CFS. It does not establish definitive sex-based mechanisms but rather synthesizes existing evidence, which may have gaps or inconsistencies. Individual studies cited may show correlation rather than direct causal relationships.
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 →
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Primary citation
Kitselman A, Kayla, Bédard-Matteau, Jérôme, Rousseau, Simon, Tabrizchi, Reza, & Daneshtalab, Noriko (2024). Sex differences in vascular endothelial function related to acute and long COVID-19.. Vascular pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vph.2023.107250
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-kitselman-a-2024-sex-differences,
author = {Kitselman A, Kayla and Bédard-Matteau, Jérôme and Rousseau, Simon and Tabrizchi, Reza and Daneshtalab, Noriko},
title = {Sex differences in vascular endothelial function related to acute and long COVID-19.},
journal = {Vascular pharmacology},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1016/j.vph.2023.107250},
note = {PubMed: 38043758},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kitselman-a-2024-sex-differences},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kitselman-a-2024-sex-differences
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