A computational comparison linked long Covid, ME/CFS, PTSD, rheumatoid arthritis, and MS to shared energy and immune networks

What the research found

Study (computational reanalysis, not a new patient cohort). Dmitry Pshezhetskiy at the University of East Anglia and colleagues, with Oxford BioDynamics, report in the Journal of Translational Medicine (2026; 24(1); doi 10.1186/s12967-026-08874-9; ScienceDaily 1 October 2026). They used the EpiSwitch Orion platform to predict three-dimensional DNA contacts. Published genome-wide association data for long Covid, PTSD, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis were combined with earlier 3D-genome data from people with ME/CFS. Individual genes barely overlapped. Network analysis connected the conditions through immune and inflammatory signaling, mitochondrial energy production, metabolic regulation, stress responses, and neuroendocrine signaling. Hub genes are candidates only. LAG3, tied to T-cell exhaustion, was highlighted for ME/CFS and still needs confirmation. The authors say a blood test for these signatures is not ready for clinical use. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust collaborated. Educational notes. This does not diagnose fatigue, and it is not a treatment.

Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.

Read the original at University of East Anglia / Journal of Translational Medicine