Actively Recruiting long COVID Studies: 

A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled, Pilot Study of the Combination of Valacyclovir + Celecoxib (IMC-2) for the Treatment of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Adult Women

What is being studied?

The Bateman Horne Center is conducting a clinical trial to test whether a combination of celecoxib and valacyclovir reduces fatigue and other symptoms in women with long COVID between the age of 18-65 years.

What do we hope to learn?

The combination of celecoxib and valacyclovir may inhibit herpes virus activation and replication. Two different doses of valacyclovir in combination with one dose of celecoxib will be tested.

If you’re eligible

You will be enrolled and compensated $100 for the screening visit, $10 weekly for survey completion, and $50 for all subsequent in-person visits. Contacting us does not mean that you are obligated or eligible to participate.

Interested in participating?

Participants will be randomized to one of three treatment arms.

Study preview

A Randomized Double Blind Placebo Control Trial to Determine the Effects of Oxaloacetate on Improving Fatigue in Long COVID

What is being studied?

The Bateman Horne Center is conducting a clinical trial to test oxaloacetate, a nutritional supplement, in Long COVID. Oxaloacetate is an energy metabolite that holds a key place in the TCA cycle – the cycle that is essential for the generation of energy.

What do we hope to learn?

This clinical trial will study the effects of oxaloacetate on improving fatigue in Long COVID patients.

If you’re eligible

Eligible participants will be compensated $50 for each in-person visit. At the end of the study, participants will be provided with a 45-day trial of oxaloacetate if they are interested.  Contacting us does not mean that you are obligated or eligible to participate.

Interested in participating?

Participants will be randomized to one of two treatment arms.

Study Preview. Use "click here" button for full study information.

Bateman Horne Center conducts high-standard, quality clinical research and trials, assuring the research question is answered in a reliable, valid, and unbiased manner, while protecting the rights and welfare of human subjects.

Bateman Horne Center follows standardized procedures and processes, ensuring regulatory compliance and the safety of human subjects.

Research Publications

The following publications are a result of BHC led and/or partnered research findings

Cognitive impairment in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 and short duration myalgic encephalomyelitis patients is mediated by orthostatic hemodynamic changes

Importance: For PASC patients, both their disease state and hemodynamic changes during orthostatic challenge were associated with slower reaction time and decreased response accuracy during cognitive testing. Reduced cognitive efficiency in <4 year ME/CFS patients was associated with higher heart rate in response to orthostatic stress. Hemodynamic changes did not correlate with cognitive impairment for >10 year ME/CFS patients, but cognitive impairment remained. These findings underscore the need for early diagnosis to mitigate direct hemodynamic and other physiological effects on symptoms of cognitive impairment. View the full publication in Frontiers in Neuroscience. 

Post-exertional malaise among people with long COVID compared to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)

Importance: All but one Long COVID respondent reported having PEM. There were many significant differences in the types of PEM triggers, symptoms experienced during PEM, and ways to recover and prevent PEM between Long COVID and ME/CFS. Similarities between Long COVID and ME/CFS included low and medium physical and cognitive exertion to trigger PEM, symptoms of fatigue, pain, immune reaction, neurologic, orthostatic intolerance, and gastrointestinal symptoms during PEM, rest to recover from PEM, and pacing to prevent PEM.

View the full publication in the journal of WORK. 

Deficient butyrate-producing capacity in the gut microbiome is associated with bacterial network disturbances and fatigue symptoms in ME/CFS

Importance:  In this study, we employed shotgun metagenomics and metabolomics to assess dysbiosis in the largest prospective case-control study to date, consisting of 106 ME/CFS subjects and 91 matched healthy controls. Our findings provide insights into disturbances in the microbiome and their relationship with fatigue symptoms in ME/CFS.

View the full publication in the journal of Cell Host & Microbe. 

Multi-‘omics of gut microbiome-host interactions in short- and long-term myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome patients

Importance:  The etiology of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is largely unknown. In this issue of Cell Host and Microbe, Guo et al. and Xiong et al. report CFS-associated gut microbiome and metabolomic datasets-implicating dysregulation of immune-modulating molecules. This may provide a framework for new therapeutic paradigms and disease origins.

View the full publication in the journal of Cell Host & Microbe. 

Improvement of Long COVID symptoms over one year

Importance: Early and accurate diagnosis and treatment of Long COVID, clinically known as post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), may mitigate progression to chronic diseases such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Our objective was to determine the utility of the DePaul Symptom Questionnaire (DSQ) to assess the frequency and severity of common symptoms of ME/CFS, to diagnose and monitor symptoms in patients with PASC.

View the full publication in the journal of Frontiers in Medicine. 

Orthostatic Challenge Causes Distinctive Symptomatic, Hemodynamic and Cognitive Responses in Long COVID and ME/CFS

Background: Some patients with acute COVID-19 are left with persistent, debilitating fatigue, cognitive impairment (“brain fog”), orthostatic intolerance (OI) and other symptoms (“Long COVID”). Many of the symptoms are like those of other post-infectious fatigue syndromes and may meet criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Common diagnostic laboratory tests are often unrevealing.

View the full publication in the journal of Frontiers in Medicine: Family and Primary Care

Dissecting the Nature of Post-Exertional Malaise

Background:  Post-exertional malaise (PEM) is a defining characteristic of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) but there is insufficient research dissecting the nature of PEM from the patients’ perspective. 

View the full publication in the journal of Fatigue : Biomedicine, Health & Behavior. 

Accurate and objective determination for ME/CFS disease severity with a wearable sensor

Background:  Approximately 2.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). This disease negatively impacts patients’ ability to function, often resulting in difficulty maintaining employment, sustaining financial independence, engaging socially with others, and in particularly severe cases, consistently and adequately performing activities of daily living. The focus of this research was to develop a sensor-based method to measure upright activity defined as time with feet on the floor and referred to as UpTime, as an indicator of ME/CFS disease severity.

View the full publication in the Journal of Translational Medicine.

Hemodynamics during the 10-minute NASA Lean Test: Evidence of circulatory decompensation in a subset of ME/CFS patients

Background:  Lightheadedness, fatigue, weakness, heart palpitations, cognitive dysfunction, muscle pain, and exercise intolerance are some of the symptoms of orthostatic intolerance (OI). There is substantial comorbidity of OI in ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). The 10-minute NASA Lean Test (NLT) is a simple, point-of-care method that can aid ME/CFS diagnosis and guide management and treatment of OI. The objective of this study was to understand the hemodynamic changes that occur in ME/CFS patients during the 10-minute NLT.

View the full publication in the Journal of Translational Medicine.

Clinically accessible tools for documenting the impact of orthostatic intolerance on symptoms and function in ME/CFS

Background: Clinical observations have indicated that hours of upright activity (HUA) reported by Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) patients correlated with orthostatic symptoms and impaired physical function. This study examined the relationship between HUA and orthostatic intolerance (OI).

View the full publication in Work.