Covid Virus may enter the brain of people through the nose, according to a study published on Monday that may help explain some of the neurological symptoms observed in Covid-19 patients, and inform diagnosis and measures to prevent infection.
Thought that the disease’s primary effect on the brain is through hypoxia, but few studies have documented the specific types of damage that distinguish COVID-19-related brain injury. Several thousand patients with COVID-19 have been seen at the MGH since the outbreak began early this year, and this study included findings from three of those patients. SARS-CoV-2 not only affects the respiratory tract but also impacts the central nervous system (CNS), resulting in neurological symptoms such as loss of smell, taste, headache, fatigue and nausea.
Tesla Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS), a specialized type of scanning that is sometimes called a virtual biopsy. MRS can identify neurochemical abnormalities even when structural imaging findings are normal. COVID-19 patients’ brains showed N-acetyl-aspartate reduction, choline elevation, and myo-inositol elevation, similar to what is seen with these metabolites in other patients with white matter abnormalities after hypoxia without COVID. One of the patients with COVID-19 who showed the most severe white matter damage (necrosis and cavitation) had particularly pronounced lactate elevation on MRS, which is another sign of brain damage from oxygen deprivation.
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Germany examined the nasopharnyx the upper part of the throat that connects to the nasal cavity a likely first site of viral infection and replication, and the brains of 33 patients 22 males and 11 females who died with Covid-19. It is Said that they found the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, the genetic material of the virus, and protein in the brain and nasopharynx, adding intact virus particles were also detected in the nasopharynx.
Compared to conventional structural MR imaging, “MRS can better characterize pathological processes, such as neuronal injury, inflammation, demyelination, and hypoxia,” adds Weerasekera. “Based on these findings, we believe it could be used as a disease and therapy monitoring tool. The disease duration was inversely correlated with the amount of detectable virus, indicating that higher SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels were found in cases with shorter disease duration.
Covid-19 autopsy studies that include a broad range of sampling are needed to identify the precise mechanisms that mediate the virus’s entry into the brain, and examine other potential ports of entry. It is important to note that concerns about toxicity of thiomersal are theoretical and that there is no compelling scientific evidence of a safety problem relating to its use in vaccines, although public perception of risk has been reported in some countries.
The coronavirus causes severe symptoms by forcing the body’s immune response to go haywire and start attacking healthy tissues, not just infected cells.
