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The pandemic brain: Neuroinflammation in non-infected individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brusaferri, Ludovica; Alshelh, Zeynab; Martins, Daniel; Kim, Minhae; Weerasekera, Akila; Housman, Hope; Morrissey, Erin J; Knight, Paulina C; Castro-Blanco, Kelly A; Albrecht, Daniel S; Tseng, Chieh-En; Zürcher, Nicole R; Ratai, Eva-Maria; Akeju, Oluwaseun; Makary, Meena M; Catana, Ciprian; Mercaldo, Nathaniel D; Hadjikhani, Nouchine; Veronese, Mattia; Turkheimer, Federico; Rosen, Bruce R; Hooker, Jacob M; Loggia, Marco L.
  • Brusaferri L; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Alshelh Z; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Martins D; Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF London, UK; NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK.
  • Kim M; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Weerasekera A; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Housman H; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Morrissey EJ; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Knight PC; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Castro-Blanco KA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Albrecht DS; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Tseng CE; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Zürcher NR; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Ratai EM; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Akeju O; Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care & Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
  • Makary MM; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA; Systems and Biomedical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, 12613 Giza, Egypt.
  • Catana C; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Mercaldo ND; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Hadjikhani N; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA; Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
  • Veronese M; Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF London, UK; NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK; Department of Information Engineering, University of Padua
  • Turkheimer F; Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF London, UK; NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK.
  • Rosen BR; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Hooker JM; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
  • Loggia ML; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care & Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic
Brain Behav Immun ; 102: 89-97, 2022 05.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1682933
ABSTRACT
While COVID-19 research has seen an explosion in the literature, the impact of pandemic-related societal and lifestyle disruptions on brain health among the uninfected remains underexplored. However, a global increase in the prevalence of fatigue, brain fog, depression and other "sickness behavior"-like symptoms implicates a possible dysregulation in neuroimmune mechanisms even among those never infected by the virus. We compared fifty-seven 'Pre-Pandemic' and fifteen 'Pandemic' datasets from individuals originally enrolled as control subjects for various completed, or ongoing, research studies available in our records, with a confirmed negative test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We used a combination of multimodal molecular brain imaging (simultaneous positron emission tomography / magnetic resonance spectroscopy), behavioral measurements, imaging transcriptomics and serum testing to uncover links between pandemic-related stressors and neuroinflammation. Healthy individuals examined after the enforcement of 2020 lockdown/stay-at-home measures demonstrated elevated brain levels of two independent neuroinflammatory markers (the 18 kDa translocator protein, TSPO, and myoinositol) compared to pre-lockdown subjects. The serum levels of two inflammatory markers (interleukin-16 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) were also elevated, although these effects did not reach statistical significance after correcting for multiple comparisons. Subjects endorsing higher symptom burden showed higher TSPO signal in the hippocampus (mood alteration, mental fatigue), intraparietal sulcus and precuneus (physical fatigue), compared to those reporting little/no symptoms. Post-lockdown TSPO signal changes were spatially aligned with the constitutive expression of several genes involved in immune/neuroimmune functions. This work implicates neuroimmune activation as a possible mechanism underlying the non-virally-mediated symptoms experienced by many during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies will be needed to corroborate and further interpret these preliminary findings.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Pandemics / COVID-19 Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: Brain Behav Immun Journal subject: Allergy and Immunology / Brain / Psychophysiology Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: J.bbi.2022.02.018

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Pandemics / COVID-19 Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: Brain Behav Immun Journal subject: Allergy and Immunology / Brain / Psychophysiology Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: J.bbi.2022.02.018