Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38970653›Full record

ArticleExperimental brain research2024

Frontal-striatal glucose metabolism and fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis, long COVID, and COVID-19 recovered controls.

Thorsten Rudroff

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Experimental brain research, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Neuroimmune pathophysiology of long COVID.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Thorsten RudroffDepartment of Health and Human Physiology, University of Iowa, E432 Field House, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA. thorsten-rudroff@uiowa.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2057-7793

Funding

University of Iowa - Research 3T MRI Connectome UpgradeS10OD025025 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · PI MAGNOTTA, VINCENT A · 2018 to 2018
$1.9M
Colorado Translational Research Imaging Center (C-TRIC) at University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO. Colorado Translational Research Imaging Center (C-TRIC) at University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO.Instrumentation Grant 1S10OD025025-01. Instrumentation Grant 1S10OD025025-01.RAMCHARGE (Colorado State University) RAMCHARGE (Colorado State University)Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study compared brain glucose metabolism using FDG-PET in the caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, thalamus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) among patients with Long COVID, patients with fatigue, people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) patients with fatigue, and COVID recovered controls. PwMS exhibited greater hypometabolism compared to long COVID patients with fatigue and the COVID recovered control group in all studied brain areas except the globus pallidus (effect size range 0.7-1.5). The results showed no significant differences in glucose metabolism between patients with Long COVID and the COVID recovered control group in these regions. These findings suggest that long COVID fatigue may involve non-CNS systems, neurotransmitter imbalances, or psychological factors not captured by FDG-PET, while MS-related fatigue is associated with more severe frontal-striatal circuit dysfunction due to demyelination and neurodegeneration. Symmetrical standardized uptake values (SUVs) between hemispheres in all groups imply that fatigue in these conditions may be related to global or network-level alterations rather than hemisphere-specific changes. Future studies should employ fine-grained analysis methods, explore other brain regions, and control for confounding factors to better understand the pathophysiology of fatigue in MS and long COVID. Longitudinal studies tracking brain glucose metabolism in patients with Long COVID could provide insights into the evolution of metabolic patterns as the condition progresses.

Indexed as

Corpus StriatumCOVID-19FatigueGlucoseMultiple SclerosisPositron-Emission TomographyAdultAgedFemaleFluorodeoxyglucose F18Frontal LobeHumansMaleMiddle AgedPost-Acute COVID-19 SyndromeFluorodeoxyglucose F18GlucoseFatigueGlucose metabolismLong COVIDMultiple sclerosisPET

Identifiers

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.