Covid infection — that mostly affects the respiratory system before causing harm to the rest of the body — may not be responsible for memory problems and fatigue, a new study has found. In fact, memory lapses, weakness, headaches, among other such things may be a result of inflammation in the body, as opposed to a result of SARS-CoV-2 infecting the brain, the research claimed. It was established during the early days of the pandemic that besides the respiratory system, Covid virus is known to leave a deep impact on the brain, with researchers concluding that brain infection could cause neurological symptoms. In fact, there were many studies that also suggested the influence of the virus on the brain.
What the study found
According to reports, a study led by researchers at Germany’s Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin floated new evidence. Dr Helena Radbruch, head of the Chronic Neuroinflammation working group at the Department of Neuropathology at Charite was quoted as saying: “We took that as our hypothesis at the start, too. But so far, there has been no clear evidence that the coronavirus can persist in the brain, let alone proliferate.”
“For that, we would have needed to find evidence of intact virus particles in the brain, for example. Instead, the indications that the coronavirus could infect the brain come from indirect testing methods, so they aren’t entirely conclusive,” Radbruch added.
Possible side effects?
Per the research, it could be possible that the aforementioned neurological symptoms would actually be side effects of a ‘strong immune response’ produced by the body to fight the virus.
How the study was conducted
According to reports, researchers analysed various areas of the brains of 21 people who died in the ICU due to ‘severe coronavirus infection’. They also made a comparison by studying nine patients who died of other causes after receiving treatment in ICU. They ‘hunted’ for indications of coronavirus in the brain tissues, if any.
The scientists did, however, find ‘coronavirus genetic material’ in the brain in some cases. “But, we did not find neurons infected with SARS-CoV-2. We assume immune cells absorbed the virus in the body and then travelled to the brain. They’re still carrying the virus, but it doesn’t infect cells of the brain. So coronavirus has invaded other cells in the body, but not the brain itself,” Radbruch was quoted as saying.
Professor Christian Conrad, head of the Intelligent Imaging working group at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charite (BIH) and one of the principal investigators in the study did, however, point out that some neurons ‘evidently react’ to the inflammation in the rest of the body. “This molecular reaction could be a good explanation for the neurological symptoms we see in Covid-19 patients. For example, neurotransmitters emitted by these cells in the brainstem could cause fatigue,” he was quoted as saying.
