A medical workers guides visitors at a COVID-19 testing station in a community health center in Seoul’s northern district of Nowon on Nov. 21, 2022. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent study has revealed that degenerative brain disease can occur as an aftereffect of COVID-19 infection. On Thursday, the Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI) announced the findings of a joint study between the research team of its dementia research group, led by Dr. Kim Do-geun, and professor Choi In-soo’s research team from Konkuk University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, which identified a neuropathological phenomenon related to the blood-brain barrier in dogs infected with COVID-19.
According to recent studies, COVID-19 patients were found to experience cognitive function disorders such as brain fog, headaches, and memory loss. Analysis of MRI scan images showed a reduction in the thickness of the cortex, the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum in humans.
The research team utilized a medium-sized dog model to study the impact of COVID-19 infection on the pathology of the neural system, blood-brain barrier disorders, and the activation of immune cells.
The study revealed that COVID-19-infected dogs transmitted the virus to other dogs, and the infected dogs displayed pathological changes in their brains.
By dividing the dogs into Group A, directly infected by the COVID-19 virus, and Group B, raised together with the directly-infected dogs and thus indirectly infected, the research team observed clinical symptoms, virus detection, immune responses, and lung lesions over the course of infection.
In both the direct and indirectly infected dogs, the COVID-19 virus started being emitted from the nose and mouth four days after infection. However, in antibody inspections, serum reactions occurred about three days later for indirectly infected models compared to directly infected models. Even in the case of neutralizing antibodies, they formed much earlier in directly infected dogs than in indirectly infected ones.
This indicates that the virus is transferred from directly infected dogs to indirectly infected dogs.
In an additional analysis of neural organs, the research team identified a change in the blood-brain barrier, which surrounds the blood vessels in the brains of COVID-19-infected dogs. The longer the infection persisted, the more evident the change was identified in the blood-brain barrier.
The collapse of the blood-brain barrier results in the permeation of fibrinogen, a blood coagulation agent, and immune cells into cerebral organs, activating astrocytes and microglia, and causing pathological phenomena in the substantia alba of the brain. This suggests that virus infection can lead to neural system disorders or degenerative disorders.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
