Long-COVID Associated with Elevated Antiviral Antibodies and Failed T-Cell Response T-Cell "Exhaustion" May Explain Failure to Clear Spike Protein PETER MCCULLOUGH, MD JAN 22

By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH Approximately 15% of patients after severe COVID-19 illness have long-COVID or post-acute sequelae including symptoms of fatigue, brain-fog, exercise intolerance, post-exertional malaise, neurological symptoms, etc. Why are only individuals affected? A paper by Yin et al, performed a detailed proteomic and cellular analysis of a small group of patients with long-COVID to a group that had recovered after the illness. “In summary, using multiple ‘omics’ analytical approaches, we found that long-COVID (LC) individuals exhibited phenotypic perturbations in both total and SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and changes in gene expression among CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, monocytes and B cells. We found higher proportions of CD4+ TCM cells, TFH, cells and Treg cells in LC compared to recovered (R) individuals. SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cells, but not total CD8+ T cells, more frequently expressed the exhaustion markers PD1 and CTLA4, consistent with ongoing stimulation by viral antigens. Further supporting a potential persistent reservoir was our observation of higher SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in LC individuals, consistent with reports of higher spike-specific IgG in LC compared to R individuals.” The authors do not mention the vaccine status of the study subjects, likely those vaccinated had far worsened proteomic and cellular metrics given super-antigen loading with Spike protein that occurs with vaccination. These data strongly support the Spike protein as the major driver of long-COVID syndrome. Thus, McCullough Protocol Base Spike Detoxification is a proposed cornerstone for treatment of post-acute sequelae after SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. If the Spike protein is not handled, then all the other treatments are destined to provide only temporary relief of symptoms before they recur. We have found in our practice that Spike detoxification must fundamentally occur in the process of bona fide recovery. Please subscribe to Courageous Discourse as a paying or founder member so we can continue to bring you the truth. Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH President, McCullough Foundation www.mcculloughfnd.org Yin K, Peluso MJ, Luo X, Thomas R, Shin MG, Neidleman J, Andrew A, Young KC, Ma T, Hoh R, Anglin K, Huang B, Argueta U, Lopez M, Valdivieso D, Asare K, Deveau TM, Munter SE, Ibrahim R, Ständker L, Lu S, Goldberg SA, Lee SA, Lynch KL, Kelly JD, Martin JN, Münch J, Deeks SG, Henrich TJ, Roan NR. Long COVID manifests with T cell dysregulation, inflammation and an uncoordinated adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2. Nat Immunol. 2024 Jan 11. doi: 10.1038/s41590-023-01724-6. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38212464. Hulscher N, Procter BC, Wynn C, McCullough PA. Clinical Approach to Post-acute Sequelae After COVID-19 Infection and Vaccination. Cureus. 2023 Nov 21;15(11):e49204. doi: 10.7759/cureus.49204. PMID: 38024037; PMCID: PMC10663976. Courageous Discourse™ with Dr. Peter McCullough & John Leake. © 2024 Peter McCullough MD MPH 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104