Coronaviruses: a challenge of today and a call for extended human postmortem brain analyses.
J Neural Transm (Vienna)
; 127(9): 1217-1228, 2020 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-680347
ABSTRACT
While there is abounding literature on virus-induced pathology in general and coronavirus in particular, recent evidence accumulates showing distinct and deleterious brain affection. As the respiratory tract connects to the brain without protection of the blood-brain barrier, SARS-CoV-2 might in the early invasive phase attack the cardiorespiratory centres located in the medulla/pons areas, giving rise to disturbances of respiration and cardiac problems. Furthermore, brainstem regions are at risk to lose their functional integrity. Therefore, long-term neurological as well as psychiatric symptomatology and eventual respective disorders cannot be excluded as evidenced from influenza-A triggered post-encephalitic Parkinsonism and HIV-1 triggered AIDS-dementia complex. From the available evidences for coronavirus-induced brain pathology, this review concludes a number of unmet needs for further research strategies like human postmortem brain analyses. SARS-CoV-2 mirroring experimental animal brain studies, characterization of time-dependent and region-dependent spreading behaviours of coronaviruses, enlightening of pathological mechanisms after coronavirus infection using long-term animal models and clinical observations of patients having had COVID-19 infection are calling to develop both protective strategies and drug discoveries to avoid early and late coronavirus-induced functional brain disturbances, symptoms and eventually disorders. To fight SARS-CoV-2, it is an urgent need to enforce clinical, molecular biological, neurochemical and genetic research including brain-related studies on a worldwide harmonized basis.
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease; Brain bank; Brain pathology; Brain stem; COVID-19; Cardiorespiratory centre; Cognitive dysfunction; Coronavirus; Depression; Movement disorders; Multiple sclerosis; Neuroinvasion; Neurological symptoms/disorders; Neuroprotection; Parkinsonism; Parkinson's disease; Postmortem studies; SARS-CoV-2 brain disorders; Therapy
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Brain
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Diagnosis
/
Betacoronavirus
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Neural Transm (Vienna)
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S00702-020-02230-x
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