ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences2025
The Central Role of Macrophages in Long COVID Pathophysiology.
Review in International journal of molecular sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Review
- Safety, feasibility, and exploratory biomarker findings of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells in hospitalized severe COVID-19: a phase I/II randomized trial.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- Reframing ME/CFS: toward a unified mechanistic model of chronic post-infectious diseases.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Pathogen effects on the brain: the case of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and neuro COVID.Frontiers in neurologyReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This review article attempts to provide a unifying hypothesis to explain the myriad of symptoms and predispositions underlying the development of PASC (Postacute Sequelae of COVID), often referred to as Long COVID. The hypothesis described here proposes that Long COVID is best understood as a disorder of persistent immune dysregulation, with chronic macrophage activation representing the fundamental underlying pathophysiology. Unlike transient post-viral syndromes, Long COVID involves a sustained innate immune response, particularly within monocyte-derived macrophages, driven by persistent spike protein (peripherally in MAIT cells and centrally in Microglial cells), epigenetic imprinting, and gut-related viral reservoirs. These macrophages are not merely activated temporarily but also become epigenetically "trained" into a prolonged inflammatory state, as demonstrated by enduring histone acetylation markers such as H3K27acDNA Reprogramming. It is proposed that recognizing macrophage activation as the central axis of Long COVID pathology offers a framework for personalized risk assessment, targeted intervention, and therapeutic recalibration.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
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.