Study record
Prediction of Post-Acute-Sequelae of COVID-19 by Cargo Protein Biomarkers of Blood Total Extracellular Vesicles in Acute COVID-19
Goetzl EJ, Yao PJ, Kapogiannis D · Am J Med · 2023
What this study reported
Measured mitochondrial and viral proteins in blood total extracellular vesicles by ELISA in adults across COVID-19 stages. Reported significantly decreased extracellular vesicle levels of MOTS-c, VDAC-1 and humanin, and elevated SARM-1, in acutely infected participants who later developed PASC, and decreased MOTS-c and humanin with elevated SARM-1 in established PASC with neuropsychiatric manifestations.
Limitations
Small group sizes, particularly the post-acute non-PASC group; observational case-control design with no mechanistic testing; MOTS-c measured only as one of several extracellular-vesicle cargo proteins by ELISA.
Study record
| Study model | Human observational |
|---|---|
| Substance studied | Endogenous MOTS-c measuredNaturally occurring MOTS-c was measured; nothing was given. |
| Species | human |
| System studied | Blood total extracellular vesicles from uninfected, acute COVID-19, PASC and post-acute non-PASC participants |
| Population | Age- and gender-matched adults with no infection, acute COVID-19, post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, or post-acute COVID without PASC |
| Design | Case-control study of extracellular-vesicle cargo proteins |
| Sample size as reported | 64 participants (10 uninfected, 16 acute COVID-19, 30 PASC, 8 post-acute without PASC) |
| Control group | age- and gender-matched uninfected participants |
| Route (data field only) | Not reported |
| Endpoints measured | extracellular vesicle MOTS-c levels; extracellular vesicle humanin levels; extracellular vesicle VDAC-1 levels; extracellular vesicle SARM-1 levels; extracellular vesicle SARS-CoV-2 S1 and N protein levels |
| Pathways measured | Other |
| Research areas | Mitochondrial biology · Inflammation & immunity · Nervous system |
| Evidence tier | B — Other human study |
| Publication types | Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural |
Appraisal
Each dimension is recorded separately and never combined into a single score. A study can be well controlled and still tell you little about people.
- Relevance to MOTS-c
- Indirect
- Model applicability
- Human
- Sample size
- Small
- Controls
- Appropriate
- Outcome validity
- Exploratory
- Support for its own conclusion
- Moderate
Provenance
- Bibliographic fields retrieved from PubMed E-utilities efetch (title, journal, date, authors, DOI) on 2026-11-11.
- Annotated from the published abstract.
- Editorial review: approved (2026-11-11).
- Classification follows the site methodology; the record describes the study, not what MOTS-c does in people.