Investigation of neuroinvasion by SARS-CoV-2
December 2022
KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium(1)
Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics, Frankfurt, Germany(2)
Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics, Frankfurt, Germany(2)
In this study, it was investigated if SARS-CoV-2 could take a direct and short route from the nose into the brain. Therefore, tissue, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid samples from COVID-19 patients who died during the acute phase of infection and were infected with the Delta, Omicron BA.1, or Omicron BA.2 variants were used. Infected cells were visualized, and ongoing viral replication and extracellular virions were investigated.
No evidence was found for viral invasion of the parenchyma of the olfactory bulb and the frontal lobe of the brain. Instead, perineurial olfactory nerve fibroblasts were found to form a hitherto unrecognized anatomical barrier against SARS-CoV-2 virions.
Anatomical barriers against SARS-CoV-2 neuroinvasion at vulnerable interfaces visualized in deceased COVID-19 patients
Laura Van Gerven(1), Peter Mombaerts(2)
Added on: 01-09-2023
[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627322010285
