Pedro Pascal matched to ME/LongCovid research infographic
Long Covid Now Looks Like a
Neurological Disease
Scientific American, 2023
Covid protein found in neurons & astrocytes up to 3 months after initial infection in those with neuropsychiatric symptoms. Autopsies have found Covid RNA in the brain up to 8 months after infection.
Those with cognitive problems have immune-related abnormalities in their cerebrospinal fluid & higher amounts of immune cells in the brain that should not be there, causing inflammation.
"(Long Covid) is not a psychological or psychosomatic disorder; this is a neuroimmune disorder"
Pedro Pascal matched to ME/LongCovid research infographic
Current update on the neurological manifestations of long COVID
PubMedID: 39850323, 2024
Neuroinflammation: elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines & autoantibodies →chronic inflammation in central & peripheral nervous systems.
Latent virus reactivation exacerbates & viral reservoirs may perpetuate inflammation.
Endothelial dysfunction damages blood brain barrier.
Hypometabolism likely due to mitochondrial dysfunction & oxidative stress are found in high ACE2 areas such as brainstem, hippocampus, olfactory bulb.
Autonomic dysfunction is possibly due to damage to the brainstem & vagus nerve. Genetic susceptibility
Pedro Pascal matched to ME/LongCovid research infographic
Persistence of spike protein at the skull-meninges-brain axis may contribute to the neurological sequelae of COVID-19
Cell, 2024
The accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in the skull-meninges-brain axis of human COVID-19 patients was observed, persisting long after viral clearance.
Biomarkers of neurodegeneration were elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid from long COVID patients.
Proteomic analysis of human skull, meninges, and brain samples revealed dysregulated inflammatory pathways and neurodegeneration-associated changes.
Pedro Pascal matched to ME/LongCovid research infographic
Microglia dysfunction, neurovascular inflammation & focal neuropathologies are linked to... systemic inflammation in COVID
Nature Neuroscience, 2025
Microglial dysfunction, mitochondrial failure & cell death occurs at sites of Covid-associated vascular inflammation. These pathologies are found in several areas of the brain, but more severe in the medulla, where key autonomic centers are localized.
Covid induced inflammation may lead to gliovascular failure in the brain, which could be a common contributor to COVID-19-related neuropathologies
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