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Brain Inflammation From COVID-19 Infection Similar to Other Forms of Neurodegeneration
Infection with COVID-19 produces the same inflammatory response in the brain as other neurodegenerative diseases, according to new research from the University of Queensland (UQ) published in Molecular Psychiatry.
Recognizing that microglial NLRP3 inflammasome activation underlies neurodegeneration, the research team composed of 33 international co-authors investigated whether or not COVID-19 might drive that activation.
“We studied the effect of the virus on the brain’s immune cells, ‘microglia’ which are the key cells involved in the progression of brain diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s,” said corresponding author Trent M. Woodruff, professor, School of Biomedical Sciences, faculty of medicine, University of Queensland, Australia. “Our team grew human microglia in the laboratory and infected the cells with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.”
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“We found the cells effectively became ‘angry’, activating the same pathway that Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s proteins can activate in disease, the inflammasomes.”
The authors utilized transgenic mice, some infected with COVID-19 and others left uninfected. The spike protein of COVID-19 was enough to initiate inflammation in standard brain tissue, and further exacerbated inflammation in tissue that was already predisposed to a neurodegenerative disorder, like Parkinson disease.
The researchers also found a potential treatment in the form of UQ-developed inhibitory drugs, currently under examination for treatment of Parkinson disease. They found that the drug reduced inflammation in the infected mice as well as micoglia cells from humans.
“Further research is needed, but this is potentially a new approach to treating a virus that could otherwise have untold long-term health ramifications,” Professor Woodruff concluded.
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