tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Heliyon
. 2024 Jul 18;10(15):e34764.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34764. eCollection 2024 Aug 15. Brain effects of mild COVID-19 in healthy young adults: A pilot study
Michael L Lipton[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Roman Fleysher[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Joan Y Song[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Kenny Ye[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Molly E Zimmerman[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Richard B Lipton[SUP] 4 6 [/SUP], Johanna P Daily[SUP] 7 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Rationale and objectives: This study examined the brain effects of mild severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection which are incompletely understood. Our objective was to ascertain within-person changes associated with mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in otherwise healthy adults.
Materials and methods: We leveraged existing pre-pandemic baseline neuroimaging and neurocognitive data, and collected follow-up data from uninfected controls and individuals with prior mild COVID-19, during December 2020 and January 2021, when vaccines were not yet available. We compared change during follow-up in patients (n = 5) versus controls (n = 15).
Results: We identified a decrease of intracellular volume fraction (ICVF), decrease of isotropic volume fraction (ISO) and decrease of orientation dispersion index (ODI) in multiple inferior frontal regions of interest in COVID-19 patients; this longitudinal change was significantly different from the control group which demonstrated increases in equivalent measures. This pattern suggests injury with neuronal loss and/or inflammation as underlying mechanisms. Neurocognitive studies identified a pattern of cognitive decline (processing speed, executive function, verbal learning, working memory) in patients, that did not reach significance.
Conclusion: Our pilot data suggests that mild COVID-19 may result in brain pathology and impact neurocognitive function in younger adults in a manner parallel to prior findings in older individuals. Though findings may not generalize to other SARS-CoV-2 variants, larger longitudinal studies of mild COVID-19 should be undertaken to understand the potential clinical implications of these findings over the longer term.
Keywords: Brain; COVID-19; MRI; Mild COVID-19.
. 2024 Jul 18;10(15):e34764.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34764. eCollection 2024 Aug 15. Brain effects of mild COVID-19 in healthy young adults: A pilot study
Michael L Lipton[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Roman Fleysher[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Joan Y Song[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Kenny Ye[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Molly E Zimmerman[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Richard B Lipton[SUP] 4 6 [/SUP], Johanna P Daily[SUP] 7 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 39157305
- PMCID: PMC11327499
- DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34764
Rationale and objectives: This study examined the brain effects of mild severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection which are incompletely understood. Our objective was to ascertain within-person changes associated with mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in otherwise healthy adults.
Materials and methods: We leveraged existing pre-pandemic baseline neuroimaging and neurocognitive data, and collected follow-up data from uninfected controls and individuals with prior mild COVID-19, during December 2020 and January 2021, when vaccines were not yet available. We compared change during follow-up in patients (n = 5) versus controls (n = 15).
Results: We identified a decrease of intracellular volume fraction (ICVF), decrease of isotropic volume fraction (ISO) and decrease of orientation dispersion index (ODI) in multiple inferior frontal regions of interest in COVID-19 patients; this longitudinal change was significantly different from the control group which demonstrated increases in equivalent measures. This pattern suggests injury with neuronal loss and/or inflammation as underlying mechanisms. Neurocognitive studies identified a pattern of cognitive decline (processing speed, executive function, verbal learning, working memory) in patients, that did not reach significance.
Conclusion: Our pilot data suggests that mild COVID-19 may result in brain pathology and impact neurocognitive function in younger adults in a manner parallel to prior findings in older individuals. Though findings may not generalize to other SARS-CoV-2 variants, larger longitudinal studies of mild COVID-19 should be undertaken to understand the potential clinical implications of these findings over the longer term.
Keywords: Brain; COVID-19; MRI; Mild COVID-19.