❦ “This study confirms everything that I have seen in the microscope over the last few years.

The authors of the study use a technique called dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI), an imaging technique that can measure the density, integrity, and leakiness of tissue vasculature.

Comparing all individuals with previous COVID infection to unaffected controls revealed decreased general brain volume in patients with ‘brain fog’ – along with significantly reduced cerebral white matter volume in both hemispheres in the recovered and ‘brain fog’ cohorts.

Covid-19 induces brain-volume loss and leaky blood-brain barrier in some patients.

How can this be more clear?”

© 2024 Dr. Danielle Beckman, Neuroscientist (PhD Biological Chemistry) ➲

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📖 (22 Feb 2024 ~ Nature: Neuroscience) Blood–brain barrier disruption and sustained systemic inflammation in individuals with long COVID-associated cognitive impairment ➤

‘Our data suggest that sustained systemic inflammation and persistent localized blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction is a key feature of long COVID-associated brain fog.

Patients with long COVID had elevated levels of IL-8, GFAP and TGFβ, with TGFβ specifically increased in the cohort with brain fog.

GFAP is a robust marker of cerebrovascular damage and is elevated after repetitive head trauma, reflecting BBB disruption, as seen in contact sport athletes and in individuals with self-reported neurological symptoms in long COVID.

Interestingly, TGFβ was strongly associated with BBB disruption and structural brain changes.’

[Layperson overview] 📖 (February 2024 ~ Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News) Leaky Blood Vessels in the Brain Linked to Brain Fog in Long COVID Patients ➤

[Related]  📖 (7 Feb 2022 ~ Nature: Cardiovascular Research) Blood–brain barrier link to human cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease ➤

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