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- Although Covid-19 is a respiratory disease, it can also seriously affect other organs
- Emerging evidence shows that virus proteins can cross over in the brain
- This can have serious consequences, as proteins can be toxic to brain tissues.
A growing body of evidence suggests that the new coronavirus has negative effects on cognitive function, as some Covid-19 patients have shown symptoms indicating that their cognitive function has been impaired.
Health24 previously reported on a study showing that the virus enters the brain through nerve cells in the olfactory mucosa (the cells that contain receptors for taste and smell). Now a more recent study, which also assesses the cognitive effects of the virus, looks at how it enters our brains.
Researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine and other neuroscientists collaborated and found that the spike protein of the virus has the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier in mice.
SARS CoV-2 makes its way into the brain
The spike protein (S1) is a SARS-CoV-2 binding protein and controls which cells the virus can enter. According to lead author Professor William Banks, “The S1 protein probably causes the brain to release cytokines and inflammatory products.”
This extreme inflammation caused by the virus is known as a cytokine storm, which is an exaggerated response of the immune system trying to kill the virus. This overreaction of the immune system leaves the patient with terrible cognitive problems such as mental confusion and fatigue.
A previous study also emphasized that a cytokine storm poses serious risks to cognitive health: “Severe Covid-19 infection triggers a complex inflammatory response that can result in cytokine storm syndrome, stroke, hypoxia and / or delirium, each of them a threat to cognitive health. “
The research team that conducted the present study noticed this reaction of the immune system to HIV infection and wanted to see if the same happens in the case of Covid-19.
Arms and hands of the virus clinging to the receptors
The researchers expressed that certain proteins in HIV (gp 120) and SARS CoV-2 (S1) work in the same way: they are like arms and hands for viruses to latch on to other receptors. They are also capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier and can be toxic to the brain.
“We know that when you have the Covid infection, you have problems breathing and that is because there is an infection in the lung, but an additional explanation is that the virus enters the respiratory centers of the brain and also causes problems there,” he explained Professor Banks. .
He warned those who don’t take the virus seriously:
“You don’t want to mess with this virus. Many of the effects of the Covid virus could be accentuated or perpetuated or even caused by the entry of the virus into the brain, and those effects could last a long time. “
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