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Staff at the Experimental Medicine Research Institute (KOKI) were among the first in the world to examine the brains of people who died of coronavirus infection. The researchers’ results may lead to different treatment methods than before, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) told MTI on Wednesday.
Covid-19 is primarily known as a respiratory disease, but there is increasing evidence that the infection and its effects can severely affect other organs, including the brain. As more and more clinical data on the disease becomes available, there is increasing evidence that the nervous system and brain may be involved in the infection, and it is conceivable that such research may be crucial in more severe cases, according to the investigation statement.
Ádám Dénes, a researcher at KOKI (Excellent Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) and his staff, including neuropathologist Tibor Hortobágyi, were in charge of mapping the possible cerebral effects of the new coronavirus infection. When someone contracts an infection, foreign substances entering the body trigger inflammatory reactions, and the news of this is carried far in the form of various inflammatory factors. By switching to “emergency mode”, the organization is forced to readjust many of its systems that function properly in a normal situation. The nervous system also detects the inflammatory changes that take place in the body, and the known sensation of the disease is developed through the reaction of some of our brain centers.
However, the impact of viral infections can go even further. Overproduction of inflammatory factors can also trigger processes that can affect the brain’s breathing and circulation centers. According to the research report, this phenomenon may be indicated by clinical observations when the respiration of some people infected with Covid-19 collapsed in a way that would not otherwise be justified by the condition of their lungs. Others do not develop difficulty breathing due to very low levels of oxygen in the blood and dangerously reduced respiratory surface area. “However, there is an even more worrying way to explain such symptoms: that the virus enters the brain,” the researchers warn.
Previous SARS and MERS-related coronaviruses, not pandemic but dangerous, have already been shown to cause infections of the nervous system. “And the new coronavirus has a number of symptoms, such as loss of taste and smell, headache, confusion, fever or sudden stroke, seizures, and convulsions, suggesting that the virus may also have this ability.” They cite Ádám Dénes in the communication. .
The chances of brain infection are increased by various other factors, such as the fact that the angiotensin-2 converting enzyme (ACE2), used by the virus as a gateway, is found in the wall of the blood vessels and the nervous system as well of the lungs. More and more intensive care pathologists and physicians believe that the knowledge gained in this field could play a serious and direct role in healing. The report mentions that network analysis research on the relationships between human and coronavirus proteins by Albert-László Barabási also suggests that the involvement of the nervous system may be significant in the new coronavirus infection.
KOKI staff were among the first to begin the preparations and licensing process to examine nerve tissue samples from patients who died of Covid-19. Their goal is to find out if the virus can infect the nervous system and, if so, which areas of the brain can be affected. They also look at how local or systemic inflammatory processes caused by a viral infection affect the brain. If the mechanisms of the brain effects of the virus can be elucidated, it is conceivable that some antiviral agents may also improve the chances of patients by reducing brain viral infection. But it could also provide an opportunity to specifically inhibit the inflammatory processes in the brain caused by the new coronavirus, possibly with drugs already on the market to cure other diseases. Furthermore, studying the long-term effects of the nervous system on infection and associated inflammatory processes may be crucial in understanding or rehabilitating the mental state of patients and determining whether the infection may increase the risk of developing various cerebrovascular or neurodegenerative diseases. , according to the MTA.
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