Complications of COVID-19 on the Central Nervous System: Mechanisms and Potential Treatment for Easing Long COVID

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) invades human cells by binding to the angiotensin-converting-enzyme-2 (ACE-2) using a spike protein and leads to Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 primarily causes a respiratory infection that can lead to severe systemic inflam...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aging and disease 2023-10, Vol.14 (5), p.1492-1510
Main Authors: Wei, Zhuang-Yao D, Liang, Ketty, Shetty, Ashok K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Angiotensin
Angiotensin converting enzyme
B cells
Central nervous system
Complications and side effects
Coronaviruses
Encephalitis
Enzymes
Health aspects
Inflammation
Ischemia
Lung diseases
Physiological aspects
Review
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
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Summary:Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) invades human cells by binding to the angiotensin-converting-enzyme-2 (ACE-2) using a spike protein and leads to Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 primarily causes a respiratory infection that can lead to severe systemic inflammation. It is also common for some patients to develop significant neurological and psychiatric symptoms. The spread of SARS-CoV-2 to the CNS likely occurs through several pathways. Once spread in the CNS, many acute symptoms emerge, and such infections could also transpire into severe neurological complications, including encephalitis or ischemic stroke. After recovery from the acute infection, a significant percentage of patients develop "long COVID," a condition in which several symptoms of COVID-19 persist for prolonged periods. This review aims to discuss acute and chronic neurological problems after SARS-CoV-2 infection. The potential mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 enters the CNS and causes neuroinflammation, neuropathological changes observed in postmortem brains of COVID-19 patients, and cognitive and mood problems in COVID-19 survivors are discussed in the initial part. The later part of the review deliberates the causes of long COVID, approaches for noninvasive tracking of neuroinflammation in long COVID patients, and the potential therapeutic strategies that could ease enduring CNS symptoms observed in long COVID. Key words: Cognitive and mood impairments, Long COVID, Neurological complications, Neuropathological changes, Neuroinflammation, SARS-COV-2, Systemic inflammation
ISSN:2152-5250
2152-5250
DOI:10.14336/AD.2023.0312