Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The long impact of Covid-19 can actually reach the human brain. This comes from a study that examined postmortem brain tissue samples, and found severe Covid-19 infection to be associated with molecular signs of brain aging.
The study identified changes in gene expression in the brains of deceased Covid patients, resembling those seen in people of old age.
The authors say their study is the first to link Covid-19 to a molecular marker of brain aging.
“We observed that gene expression in the brain tissue of patients who died from Covid-19 was very similar to that of uninfected people aged 71 years or older,” said public health scientist Jonathan Lee of Harvard University, quoted from Science AlertWednesday (25/1/2023).
The research sample consisted of people in their early 20s to mid-80s. They include 21 people who have severe Covid-19, one individual without symptoms, and 22 people who are not infected with the corona virus.
The researchers also compared their results with individuals who were not infected with Alzheimer’s disease and another group of 9 individuals with no history of hospitalization or ventilator care.
Using RNA sequencing technology on prefrontal cortex samples, scientists found that patients with severe Covid-19 exhibit enriched genetic expression patterns associated with aging.
The brains of individuals infected with Covid appeared more similar to those of older individuals in the control group, regardless of their actual age.
Simply put, genes that are normally upregulated in aging, such as those related to the immune system, are also upregulated in severe Covid.
At the same time, genes that are downregulated in aging, such as those related to synaptic activity, cognition and memory, are also downregulated in severe Covid.
“We also observed significant associations between cellular responses to DNA damage, mitochondrial function, regulation of responses to stress and oxidative stress, vesicular transport, calcium homeostasis, and insulin signaling/secretion pathways that were previously associated with aging and brain aging processes,” write the researchers. writer.
“Overall, our analysis suggests that many of the biological pathways that change with natural aging in the brain also change in severe Covid-19.”
Indeed, ever since the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 began infecting humans on a global scale, scientists have been concerned about the possible long-term consequences.
Brain damage is one of the most problematic outcomes. Covid cases with severe symptoms are often associated with brain fog, memory loss, stroke, delirium or coma.
In October 2020, initial brain scans in Covid patients revealed alarming signs of neurological disorders and disorders.
Subsequent studies have found that even mild Covid can affect the brain, although it remains unclear how long these changes last or how they compare to severe Covid.
With each passing year, health experts have a slightly better idea of the long-term outcomes this global pandemic may have.
The current study’s findings follow another paper, published earlier this year, which found the cognitive impact of severe Covid-19 to be equivalent to aging by around 20 years.
Neuroscientist Marianna Bugiani of the University of Amsterdam told Nature the new findings open up a host of questions that are important not only for understanding the disease, but also for preparing society for the consequences of a pandemic.
He also added that these consequences may not be clear for years to come. And right now, the global community may be suffering from repeated Covid-19 infections.
Interestingly, in the current study, the researchers found no genetic evidence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the brains of infected patients, indicating that the neurological consequences of the virus may not be directly due to its presence in the nervous system.
However, the authors found evidence that tumor necrosis factor (TNF), which is associated with inflammation, brain aging, and aging-related cognitive decline, is present at higher levels in the brains of infected individuals.
Genetic factors associated with antiviral immune responses are also increased.
The authors suggest that both of these pathways can cause significant deleterious effects in the brain without SARS-CoV-2 neuro-invasion.
Given their findings, the team said people recovering from Covid should get neurological follow-up. If the presence of this new virus is enough to trigger inflammation in the brain, it is possible that everyone who is infected is at risk of developing brain damage.
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