COVID-19 effects on brain-related health
Over time, more scientific data has come out showing that COVID-19 causes neurological problems. COVID-19 is the infectious disease for any person who gets the SARS-CoV-2 virus.[1] These neurological problems change the brain, and can also change psychological health.[2]
The SARS-CoV-2 virus infects olfactory neurons, which are neurons used for smell. Neurons are cells which are part of the nervous system. Other nerve cells infected by the virus are taste receptors in the tongue. Yet, these infections may be a small part of the neurological problems caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A bigger cause may be hypoxia, caused by infected vascular cells. From neurological problems, psychological problems can happen. This may be the result of something like PTSD happening after infection.[2] With technology like polymerase chain reaction, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been found infecting the brain and cerebrospinal fluid.[3]
The neurological problems, which last a long time, make up a part of the many Long COVID symptoms.[4]
Causes
[change | change source]Some scientists think that SARS-CoV-2 causes neurological problems in these ways that may or may not be true:[5]
- By infecting a lot of cells, which then causes infection of the central nervous system.
- By causing a cytokine storm, which then causes inflammation in the central nervous system. This damages the central nervous system.
- By central nervous system thrombosis, caused by SARS-CoV-2 using the protein receptor ACE2.
- By infecting the brain stem, which causes hypoxia.
Some other scientists saw that SARS-CoV-2 can cause changes in the microciruclation in the brain, or changes in blood flow in smaller blood vessels. Also, endothelial cells may die. These changes can be bad for the blood–brain barrier.[6][7]
Still other scientists have found that SARS-CoV-2 makes tunneling nanotubes. The tunnels start from nose cells and then go to the brain.[8][9]
Results
[change | change source]After some people got a SARS-CoV-2 infection, some scientists did brain scans and cognitive tests on those people. The people were in the UK Biobank. From brain scans, the scientists saw that the brain is smaller after infection. From the cognitive tests, the scientists saw that the people were less good at cognitive tests after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.[10]
Related pages
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]- ↑ Koralnik IJ, Tyler KL (July 2020). "COVID-19: A Global Threat to the Nervous System". Annals of Neurology. 88 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1002/ana.25807. PMC 7300753. PMID 32506549.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hossain MM, Tasnim S, Sultana A, Faizah F, Mazumder H, Zou L, et al. (2020). "Epidemiology of mental health problems in COVID-19: a review". F1000Research. 9: 636. doi:10.12688/f1000research.24457.1. PMC 7549174. PMID 33093946.
- ↑ Al-Sarraj S, Troakes C, Hanley B, Osborn M, Richardson MP, Hotopf M, et al. (February 2021). "Invited Review: The spectrum of neuropathology in COVID-19". Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology. 47 (1): 3–16. doi:10.1111/nan.12667. hdl:11343/252622. PMID 32935873.
- ↑ Al-Aly, Ziyad; Xie, Yan; Bowe, Benjamin (2021-04-22). "High-dimensional characterization of post-acute sequalae of COVID-19". Nature. 594 (7862): 259–264. Bibcode:2021Natur.594..259A. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03553-9. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 33887749.
- ↑ Mathew, Bijo; Kumar, Rajesh; Harilal, Seetha; M., Sabitha; Pappachan, Leena K.; P.R., Roshni (April 2022). "Current Perspective of COVID-19 on Neurology: A Mechanistic Insight". Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening. 25 (5): 763–767. doi:10.2174/1386207324666210805121828. ISSN 1386-2073. PMID 34353250. S2CID 236933857.
- ↑ "Study reveals how COVID-19 can directly damage brain cells". New Atlas. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- ↑ Jan Wenzel; et al. (November 2021). "The SARS-CoV-2 main protease Mpro causes microvascular brain pathology by cleaving NEMO in brain endothelial cells". Nature Neuroscience. 24 (11): 1522–1533. doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00926-1. ISSN 1546-1726. PMC 8553622. PMID 34675436.
- ↑ "Coronavirus may enter the brain by building tiny tunnels from the nose". New Scientist. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- ↑ Pepe, Anna; Pietropaoli, Stefano; Vos, Matthijn; Barba-Spaeth, Giovanna; Zurzolo, Chiara (22 July 2022). "Tunneling nanotubes provide a route for SARS-CoV-2 spreading". Science Advances. 8 (29): eabo0171. Bibcode:2022SciA....8O.171P. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abo0171. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 9299553. PMID 35857849.
- ↑ Douaud, Gwenaëlle; Lee, Soojin; Alfaro-Almagro, Fidel; Arthofer, Christoph; Wang, Chaoyue; McCarthy, Paul; Lange, Frederik; Andersson, Jesper L. R.; Griffanti, Ludovica; Duff, Eugene; Jbabdi, Saad; Taschler, Bernd; Keating, Peter; Winkler, Anderson M.; Collins, Rory; Matthews, Paul M.; Allen, Naomi; Miller, Karla L.; Nichols, Thomas E.; Smith, Stephen M. (7 March 2022). "SARS-CoV-2 is associated with changes in brain structure in UK Biobank". Nature. 604 (7907): 697–707. Bibcode:2022Natur.604..697D. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04569-5. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 9046077. PMID 35255491.