黑料吃瓜群网

Research led by The University of Queensland has found COVID-19 activates the same inflammatory response in the brain as Parkinson鈥檚 disease.

The discovery identified a potential future risk for neurodegenerative conditions in people who鈥檝e had COVID-19, but also a possible treatment.

The UQ team was led by Professor Trent Woodruff and Dr Eduardo Albornoz Balmaceda from UQ鈥檚 School of Biomedical Sciences, and virologists from the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences.

鈥淲e studied the effect of the virus on the brain鈥檚 immune cells, 鈥榤icroglia鈥� which are the key cells involved in the progression of brain diseases like Parkinson鈥檚 and Alzheimer鈥檚,鈥� Woodruff said.

鈥淥ur team grew human microglia in the laboratory and infected the cells with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

鈥淲e found the cells effectively became 鈥榓ngry鈥�, activating the same pathway that Parkinson鈥檚 and Alzheimer鈥檚 proteins can activate in disease, the inflammasomes.鈥�

Albornoz Balmaceda said triggering the inflammasome pathway sparked a 鈥榝ire鈥� in the brain, which begins a chronic and sustained process of killing off neurons.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a silent killer, because you don鈥檛 see any outward symptoms for many years,鈥� Albornoz Balmaceda said.

鈥淚t may explain why some people who鈥檝e had COVID-19 are more vulnerable to developing neurological symptoms similar to Parkinson鈥檚 disease.鈥�

The researchers found the spike protein of the virus was enough to start the process and was further exacerbated when there were already proteins in the brain linked to Parkinson鈥檚.

鈥淪o if someone is already pre-disposed to Parkinson鈥檚, having COVID-19 could be like pouring more fuel on that 鈥榝ire鈥� in the brain,鈥� Woodruff said.

鈥淭he same would apply for a predisposition for Alzheimer鈥檚 and other dementias that have been linked to inflammasomes.鈥�

But the study also found a potential treatment.

The researchers administered a class of UQ-developed inhibitory drugs that are currently in clinical trials with Parkinson鈥檚 patients.

鈥淲e found it successfully blocked the inflammatory pathway activated by COVID-19, essentially putting out the fire,鈥� Albornoz Balmaceda said.

鈥淭he drug reduced inflammation in both COVID-19-infected mice and the microglia cells from humans, suggesting a possible treatment approach to prevent neurodegeneration in the future.鈥�

Woodruff said while the similarity between how COVID-19 and dementia diseases affect the brain was concerning, it also meant a possible treatment was already in existence.

鈥淔urther research is needed, but this is potentially a new approach to treating a virus that could otherwise have untold long-term health ramifications.鈥�

The research, published in聽Molecular Psychiatry, was co-led by Dr Alberto Amarilla Ortiz and Associate Professor Daniel Watterson and involved 33 co-authors across UQ and internationally.

Image credit: iStockphoto.com/wildpixel