At the Forefront:
UAMS Search for Answers to Long COVID-19 Yields Possible Cause By David Robinson
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ithin months of COVID-19’s arrival, its list of disturbing health effects grew to include longlasting fatigue, brain fog and other debilitating symptoms. Known today as long COVID-19 or long-haul COVID-19, it has disrupted education plans, careers, and the basic activities of life. The global search for answers recently yielded a possible cause at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), drawing national attention and hope for those with long COVID-19. Leading the research is John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., a UAMS nephrologist who has treated kidney failures caused by the virus, SARS-CoV-2. Through his research, he learned that
12 WINTER 2021 | ARKANSAS HOSPITALS
a protein known as ACE2 plays a key role in the body’s immune response to coronavirus. Arthur has long studied ACE2 because of its role in kidney function. “I was really inspired to begin this COVID-19 research because I was already familiar ACE2, which just so happens to be the protein that the coronavirus hijacks to get into cells,” Arthur said. SARS CoV-2 attaches to the ACE2, and once inside a cell the virus commandeers the molecular machinery and multiplies. He moved quickly in 2020 to conduct research into ACE2’s role in coronavirus infections. That work led to the recent groundbreaking discovery of rogue antibodies that appear weeks after an initial COVID-19 infection. The discovery
