COVID-19 likely affects the brain, San Antonio researchers find

SAN ANTONIO – The coronavirus pandemic has plagued the planet for nearly a year, and now researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio are investigating how COVID-19 affects the brain.

UT Health’s dementia researchers helped write the report, including lead author Gabriel A. de Erausquin who said, “Since the 1917 and 1918 flu pandemic, many of the flu-like illnesses have been linked to brain disease.”

According to the Erausquin, “those respiratory viruses include H1N1 and SARS-CoV. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, is also known to affect the brain and nervous system. “

Funding for this new research is provided by the Alzheimer’s Association, which is helping to bring together data from more than 30 countries “to understand how COVID-19 reduces the risk, severity, rate, and progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and psychiatric. diseases, including depression, increases., ”A release from UT Health states.

The researchers have already discovered that the coronavirus enters the cell receptors ACE2, the highest concentration of which is found in the brain’s olfactory bulb that is linked to people’s sense of smell.

“Olfactory cells are very susceptible to viral invasion and are particularly targeted by SARS-CoV-2, and therefore one of the prominent symptoms of COVID-19 is the loss of sense of smell,” said Sudha Seshadri, another UT researcher. Health.

The olfactory bulb connects to the brain’s hippocampus, which is mainly responsible for short-term memory.

“The trail of the virus when it enters the brain leads almost directly to the hippocampus,” said de Erausquin. “This is believed to be one of the sources of the cognitive impairment seen in COVID-19 patients. We suspect it may also be part of the reason why accelerated cognitive decline will occur in susceptible individuals over time. “

Researchers have also found that SARS-CoV-2 can be found in the brain after patients die and that abnormal brain imaging, sometimes characterized by lesions in different parts of the brain, has emerged as an important feature of COVID -19 from all parts of the world. “

UT Health officials said researchers will continue to collect information for the next 2-3 years and expect first results in early 2022. The World Health Organization is also helping guide the study.

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