Dutch study finds muscle abnormalities in long COVID and ME/CVS

The ZonMw‑funded ME/CVS research programme in the Netherlands explains how scientific investigations are organised within university departments, medical centres and research institutes, with professors, principal investigators, PhD candidates and post‑docs shaping study questions.

A new study by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, led by researcher Rob Wüst, compared muscle tissue from patients with long COVID and ME/CVS to that of healthy volunteers who were bedridden for 60 days. The patients showed distinct muscle changes – reduced redness, fewer mitochondria and poorer blood flow – that were far more pronounced than the modest deconditioning seen in the inactive control group. These findings indicate that the severe fatigue and post‑exertional worsening experienced by patients are intrinsic to the diseases, not merely a result of inactivity. The research highlights the need for further investigation into autoimmune or neuro‑inflammatory mechanisms. In the Netherlands, long COVID affects an estimated 400,000‑450,000 people, with 90,000‑100,000 severely limited and over 12,000 partially disabled, and no curative treatment currently exists.