The project investigates risk factors for post‑COVID syndrome (PCS), focusing on pre‑existing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and chronic low‑grade inflammation as determinants of impaired recovery. We hypothesize that longstanding gastrointestinal complaints reflect a pro‑inflammatory state that hampers mitochondrial restoration after acute SARS‑CoV‑2 infection. We will prospectively collect clinical data, standardized questionnaires, and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with and without IBS who contract COVID‑19, and evaluate the association with subsequent PCS development and severity.
Dit onderzoek richt zich op risicofactoren voor post‑COVID‑syndroom (PCS), met speciale aandacht voor vooraf bestaand prikkelbaredarmsyndroom (PDS) en chronische laaggradige inflammatie. Onze hypothese is dat langdurige buikklachten een pro‑inflammatoire toestand weerspiegelen die het mitochondriale herstel na een SARS‑CoV‑2‑infectie belemmert. We verzamelen prospectief klinische gegevens, gevalideerde vragenlijsten en inflammatoire biomarkers bij patiënten met en zonder PDS die COVID‑19 doormaken, en analyseren de relatie met het ontstaan en de ernst van PCS.
Amendement nieuwe onderzoeksvraag (onder A):
- Is the association between pre-existing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and newly developed persistent fatigue specific to the pandemic period, or is it also present in a fully pre-pandemic interval?
- Among participants who developed persistent fatigue after 2020, which proportion had a registered positive SARS-CoV-2 test, which proportion was most likely infected without a registered test, and which proportion most likely developed the syndrome after another infection or without a preceding infection?