PolyBio: New LongCOVID research launched by PolyBio’s global consortium of scientists

They are also doing a trial of Lumbrokinase on ME/CFS, Long Covid and Long Lyme

Lumbrokinase LongCOVID & ME/CFS clinical trial - PolyBio Research Foundation

 

Taking nattokinase and lumbrokinase caused excessive bleeding in my case.

All my tests ruled out issues with hypercoagulability, hyperactivation of platelets, CD62P et 23 years ago. I had these tests done soon after reactivation of EBV and HHV6 relapse from taking immune modulators.

 

Key points from Steven Deeks at the PolyBio conference happening now:

1. LIINC Long Covid Clinical trials started/planned for 4 treatments
2. Same approach previous applied in understanding HIV and currently applied in Long Covid will be applied to funded ME research

Timothy Henrich at PolyBio conference describes the INTERRUPT-LC trial using an interleukin-15 (IL-15) receptor agonist approved for bladder cancer. The IL-15 receptor agonist (Anktiva) works by activating the body's natural killer and killer T-cell to clear viral reservoirs.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1791534765805310077

 

Also in the Polybio Conference, Dr. Victoria Cortes Bastos on an overview of ME/CFS blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples

https://twitter.com/user/status/1791557414199677204

 

Yesterday there was a symposium by Polybio showing their latest work.

Both LC and ME/CFS but there is more focus on LC given recent funding so I put it there.

Here is a very extensive thread covering much of it (200+):

And a shorter summary:

Summary document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/127j4WI5oAED4LRM0uy-a6RIRoYzhD61fGYc3bvlG64g/edit

 

I noticed there wasn’t much coverage/following of this event on this forum. Was it because people didn’t know about it or was it because there isn’t much interest in viral persistence research?

 

It was probably because people who noticed, or knew about, the event didn't post about it here, which could be for a variety of reasons.

 

The downfall of Xitter is probably a big reason. It's often the only place to find out about it these days, and with fewer people to notice them. Although it's good that lots of summaries and videos get posted after, so missing it for a day or two isn't that big a deal. Sometimes I see something passing and assume someone else will post it here if I'm not really up for it at the moment, but if it doesn't happen I get around to creating a thread.

I don't remember seeing it announced before the day it was held, though. Some of this is probably with there being lots of news this week, from the United2fight conference and ME awareness week.

 

I knew about it, but as I don't (and won't) have an X account, I couldn't follow it.

 

It probably was, but those are probably more direct/less available means, like subscribing to their newsletter, or maybe Facebook or other places. Not many places to get that kind of information. Same with OMF's symposiums, or the United2fight conference.

That's what made twitter unique. It used to be a place to get news from where journalists get some of their news.

 

https://www.meresearch.org.uk/project-update-from-dr-proal/

"Dr Amy Proal from PolyBio Research Foundation recently updated us on the progress of her project searching for viruses in tissue and nerve samples from people with ME/CFS. This project was funded by ME Research UK with the financial support of the Gordon Parish Charitable Trust.

The viruses most associated with ME/CFS (including polio-type enteroviruses and herpesviruses) can infect nerves and ‘hide’ in tissue, and may therefore remain in the body after an initial infection.

Dr Proal and her team (which also includes researchers at Berkeley National Laboratory and Harvard Medical School) are using new computer-based technologies to identify viruses in human tissue samples from people with ME/CFS and from healthy control subjects. They hope to clarify which of these viral species may contribute to the disease process in ME/CFS.

In addition to setting up and optimising the techniques being used, the researchers have been recruiting participants for the study, and have started collecting and processing the various tissue and nerve samples they require. Much of the analysis takes place in the next phase of the project, and we are looking forward to seeing those findings in due course.

Find out more about the project here"

 

I thought David Putrino's talk was interesting, so I had Claude.ai make a summary to share here:


Context

• Long COVID and other complex chronic illnesses present over 200 symptoms affecting multiple organ systems
• Traditional large-scale monotherapeutic trials are often ineffective due to the complexity and diversity of patient experiences

Three-Phase Clinical Trial Strategy

Phase 1: Rapid Interventional Trials

• Sample size: 30-40 people per intervention arm
• Deep phenotyping:
  • Conducted at baseline and end of intervention
  • Collaboration with Akiko Iwasaki's team
  • Focus areas: immune profiling, persistent pathogen levels, biomarkers of autonomic dysfunction
• Objective: Identify biomarkers associated with drug response
• Example:
  • Testing a broad-spectrum antiviral
  • Hypothetical finding: EBV titers bottoming out correlates with symptom improvement

Phase 2: Targeted Larger Trials

• Recruitment based on Phase 1 results:
  • Select participants with biomarkers indicating likely positive response
• Design: Larger-scale, placebo-controlled RCT of monotherapy
• Primary goals:
  • Validate biomarkers identified in Phase 1
  • More effectively evaluate drug efficacy in a targeted population
• Hypothesis: Significantly higher response rate compared to Phase 1

Phase 3: Adaptive Platform Trials

• Focus: Testing multiple drug combinations
• Design features:
  • Flexibility to adjust trial parameters based on ongoing results
  • Ability to test various intervention combinations simultaneously
• Objective: Identify effective treatment combinations for specific patient phenotypes

Implementation at CORE (Center for Recovery from Complex Chronic Illnesses)

• Multiple active interventional trials in progress or pending approval
• Interventions being tested include:
  • Antivirals
  • Immunomodulators
  • Physical interventions (devices)

Key Strategy Elements

• Start with smaller, deeply phenotyped trials to identify response predictors
• Use these predictors to design more targeted, larger trials
• Progress to adaptive trials testing combination therapies
• Emphasis on understanding individual patient characteristics and their relation to treatment response

 

Lumbrokinase Long Covid & ME/CFS clinical trial
LINK

PolyBio is glad to be supporting the ME/CFS and Long Covid arms of this trial. If you are in the NYC area please check if you are eligible to participate! More info on the trial here:
https://twitter.com/user/status/1882496428431573376


Our lumbrokinase trial is recruiting patients. We are investigating the effect of a 6-week protocol of lumbrokinase

Individuals participating in the study must meet one of the following diagnoses: Long COVID, ME/CFS (pre-2020 diagnosis), Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome. For more information, please reach out to coreresearch@mountsinai.org.