COVID 19/Recovery and the cause of the deterioration have been found?Study: New coronavirus can hide in the brain

The follow-up problems of the new crown survivors are attracting attention. It is not only that these people may have unrecoverable side effects, but there are even cases of recurrence worldwide. Recent studies have pointed out that the new coronavirus can be hidden in the brain in animal experiments, becoming one of the clues to recurrence.

The brain is the central processor of humans, and COVID-19 can cause human neurological diseases. Recently, “Viruses” published a study that found that mice with neo-coronary intranasal infection can cause severe neurological diseases.

The path from the nasal cavity to the brain is more direct than the mouth, and changes in smell and taste are one of the symptoms of COVID-19. Therefore, the researchers inoculated virus cells and PBS into the nasal cavity of mice. The infected mice began to lose weight significantly on the 4th day, accompanied by complications such as lethargy, slow movement, ataxia, and difficulty breathing. All the rats died.

Afterwards, the researchers analyzed and found that the amount of virus in the lungs and nasal cavity of mice reached a peak on the 3rd day and gradually decreased on the 5th and 6th days, while the virus in the brain was only detected on the 3rd day. It reached a high peak on the 5th day, and the highest virus titer in the brain was about 1000 times higher than the highest titer in the lung, indicating that the new crown has a high replication potential in the brain.

On the 6th day after the mouse was infected with the virus, the researchers detected cell-related viral antigens in the brain, including the cortex, cerebellum, and hippocampus. The mice’s neurons shrank and degenerated, perivascular hemorrhage, and leukocyte infiltration increased. . This finding just explains why some patients with COVID-19 have improved lung function, but they may relapse quickly and die.

Since there is no immune response in the brain, it has become the favorite hiding place for viruses. Although patients who have recovered from COVID-19 seem to have escaped the clutches, they may still face autoimmune diseases, Parkinson’sMultiple sclerosisAnd general cognitive decline and other health problems.

參考資料：Neuroinvasion and Encephalitis Following Intranasal Inoculation of SARS-CoV-2 in K18-hACE2 Mice

Text/Lin Yijing Picture/Lin Yijing

Further reading:

COVID-19/”Lancet” Study of 27,000 Infected Families in Wuhan: The infectivity is higher during the incubation period, and children are most likely to infect others

COVID 19/Do you not wear a mask for indoor chat? BBC: The risk of infection exceeds cough

COVID-19 / Taiwan’s oldest patient with “toothache” went to Chang Gung for medical treatment