Research in brief

ABSTRACT

Brain aging and COVID-19 Many biological pathways that change with natural aging in the brain also changed in patients with severe COVID-19, say researchers who used RNA sequencing to assess changes in gene expression profiles in the brain of COVID-19 patients compared with uninfected individuals. The scientists observed that gene expression in the brain tissue of patients who died of COVID-19 closely resembled that of uninfected individuals aged 71 years or older. In genetially modified mice, the emergency mode of haematopoiesis ran without any detectable infection or increased interferon levels and these genetically modified animals were better able to fight off infection with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes than normal mice.