Lipophagy confers a key metabolic advantage that ensures protective CD8A T-cell responses against HIV-1, 2020, Loucif et al

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15548627.2021.1874134

The news article got me interested because of the reference to "restores mitochondiral energy metabolism"

Scientists demonstrated that the strength of elite controllers comes from their energy metabolism within CD8 lymphocytes. "Cells require energy, produced in the mitochondria to protect the body and carry out their functions. However, this energy is not used effectively by treated patients. Due to a deregulation of the metabolism, the cells are weakened in their immune function," explains Professor van Grevenynghe, who has worked on HIV for 15 years.

Re-educating cells

This energy deficiency is not permanent. Indeed, the research team demonstrated that CD8 lymphocytes can be "re-educated" using a soluble protein that optimizes their energy intake and immune function. "The protein, called interleukin-21 (IL-21), restores mitochondrial energy metabolism through a cell recycling process called autophagy. For elite controllers, the degradation of lipid reserves through autophagy, or lipophagy, is highly effective," explains the Ph.D. student.

...
An additional benefit of this breakthrough is that the results of the study would not be limited to HIV-1 alone. "A comparison can be made with other pathologies associated with persistent inflammation, such as cancer, diabetes and even COVID-19 with lung inflammation," notes Julien van Grevenynghe.

 

That is because me/cfs is a mitochondrial disease.