Max planck institute for ornithology, Research institute in Pöcking, Germany

New York, June 23 People who died of Covid-19 showed signs that were similar to the brains of individuals who died of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, according to a study.Both groups presented similar inflammation and impairment in brain circuits, said researchers from the Stanford School of Medicine and the Saarland University in Germany.The findings, published in the journal Nature, may help explain why about one-third of individuals hospitalised for Covid report symptoms of neurological problems like fuzzy thinking, forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, and depression.The team analysed brain tissues from eight individuals who died of the disease, and brain samples from 14 people who died of other causes were used as controls for the study."The brains of patients who died from severe Covid-19 showed profound molecular markers of inflammation, even though those patients didn't have any reported clinical signs of neurological impairment," said Tony Wyss-Coray, Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford."Viral infection appears to trigger inflammatory responses throughout the body that may cause inflammatory signalling across the blood-brain barrier, which in turn could trip off neuroinflammation in the brain," he added.Further, the team found that the activation levels of many genes, associated with inflammatory processes, differed in the Covid-19 patients' brains versus the control group's brains.There also were signs of distress in neurons in the cerebral cortex, the brain region that plays a key role in decision-making, memory and mathematical reasoning.The outermost layers of the cerebral cortex of patients who died of Covid-19 showed molecular changes suggesting suppressed signalling by excitatory neurons, along with heightened signalling by inhibitory neurons, which act like brakes on excitatory neurons. This kind of signalling imbalance has been associated with cognitive deficits and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, the researchers explained.In addition, the peripheral immune cells called T cells, were significantly more abundant in brain tissue from dead Covid-19 patients. In healthy brains, these immune cells are few and far between."It's likely that many Covid-19 patients, especially those reporting or exhibiting neurological problems or those who are hospitalised, have these neuroinflammatory markers we saw in the people we looked at who had died from the disease," Wyss-Coray said. It may be possible to find out by analysing these patients' cerebrospinal fluid, whose contents to some extent mirror those of the living brain."Our findings may help explain the brain fog, fatigue, and other neurological and psychiatric symptoms of long Covid," he noted.Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Max Planck Institute For OrnithologyFOLLOW

Max planck institute for ornithology, Latest News

Berlin, June 26 With just three months left fot the federal elections in Germany, 80 per cent of ... ...

Frankfurt, June 26 Germany's world number 26 Angelique Kerber overcame Czech Republic's world number 12 Petra Kvitova in ... ...

Several people were injured in a knife attack in Germany's Wurzburg on Friday, media reports said. ...

Defending women's singles champion Simona Halep has pulled out of the upcoming Wimbledon 2021 due to a calf injury. ...

Munich, June 24 Substitute Leon Goretzka scored a last-gasp equaliser and secured Germany a spot in the last ... ...

Berlin, June 24 The German government has adopted an emergency climate protection program worth eight billion euros ($9.6 ... ...

European football governing body UEFA on Wednesday clarified it totally respects the 'rainbow' and also clarified that Germany's request to light up the Munich Stadium in 'rainbow colours' for the Euro 2020 match against Hungary was turned down due t ...

New York, June 23 People who died of Covid-19 showed signs that were similar to the brains of ... ...