new research suggests covid-19 may be able to cross the blood-brain barrier, offering clues to why many people infected with the virus experience cognitive symptoms such as brain fog.it all comes down to the spike protein or s1 — the prickly-looking shoot seen coming out of the cell in diagrams of virus.
in a study published in the journal nature neuroscience, researchers from the university of washington found covid-19 crossed the blood-brain barrier in mice, most likely because of the spike protein.
the blood-brain barrier helps protect the brain from toxins and pathogens that may be travelling in the blood, but still lets nutrients pass through to the brain. according to the university of queensland,
it acts as a “barrier between the brain’s blood vessels (capillaries) and the cells and other components that make up brain tissue.” blood-barrier dysfunction has been
linked to meningitis,
multiple sclerosis, stroke and epilepsy.lead study author william a. banks, a professor of medicine at the university of washington school of medicine, said in a
news release that proteins such as s1 can cause damage when they detach from the virus. this leads to inflammation, and even a cytokine storm, where the immune system switches into high gear in an attempt to crush the virus. this can cause cognitive issues such as brain fog and fatigue.the blood-brain barrier breach may also explain why some people infected with the virus experience serious issues with breathing. aside from the lung infection, banks said “an additional explanation is that the virus enters the respiratory centers of the brain and causes problems there as well.”individuals suffering symptoms of the virus months after the infection have
reported brain fog and extreme fatigue, as well as short-term memory loss. how serious can cognitive issues get after infection? one covid-19 long hauler told healthing in a
previous interview: “i’d literally forget what to do with a door and not know how to close the shower door. i’d have to write everything down or i’d forget it.”banks believes the research is yet another reason to exercise the utmost caution in avoiding infection.“you do not want to mess with this virus,” he says. “many of the effects that the covid virus has could be accentuated or perpetuated or even caused by virus getting in the brain and those effects could last for a very long time.”
monika warzecha is a homepage editor at healthing.cadon’t miss the latest on covid-19, reopening and life. subscribe to healthing’s daily newsletter covid life.
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