Coronavirus lingers in the brain even after recovery
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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After entering the brain, the coronavirus infection lingers in it much longer than in other organs, including the respiratory system.
The causative agent COVID-19 damages not only the respiratory organs. Many already know that the infection affects both the digestive and cardiovascular systems. And relatively recently, protein particles of the coronavirus were found in the structures of the brain, although this vital organ is equipped with a strong infectious defense - the blood-brain barrier.
Recently, the scientific publication Virusis published material with information that SARS-CoV-2 does not just enter the brain , but remains in it for a long time, adding problems even after the infection from other organs has been eliminated and the patient has clinically recovered.
Scientists representing the University of Georgia conducted a study on genetically modified rodents that have become susceptible to the new coronavirus. Rodents were injected with a solution infected with coronavirus through the nasal cavity. For three days, a peak viral concentration was found in the respiratory system, which subsequently began to decrease. Nevertheless, the content of the pathogen in the brain structures remained quite high even on the sixth day after infection. At the same time, a thousand times more coronavirus was found in the brain than in other organs. It is also important that the clinical picture of COVID-19 simultaneously became more pronounced: the mice had difficulty breathing, severe weakness, and loss of spatial orientation. Neurological symptoms were the result of damage to the central nervous system.
Scientists suggest that many of the disorders that are detected during coronavirus infection are caused not so much by damage to the respiratory organs as by the penetration of the pathogen into the brain. This can also explain the cases when the patients were already clearly on the way to recovery, and suddenly a sudden deterioration in their condition was noted: perhaps, here, too, the culprit was a virus hiding in the structures of the brain. This, probably, explains the development of a specific postcoid syndrome.
If a coronavirus infection enters a living organism through the respiratory system, then it is relatively easy for it to reach the brain. However, it should be understood that the study was carried out on genetically modified rodents, and not on humans, so it is too early to draw precise conclusions.
More information about the study can be found in the первоисточника информацииprimary source of information