Apparently, Covid 19 can disrupt cerebral blood flow or the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BSH) when infected. Then, as part of Long Covid, there are problems with concentration and disruptions in the ability to plan or remember – also known as “brain fog”. The phenomenon also includes headaches, fatigue, malaise and altered levels of consciousness.
The fact that this “brain fog” is caused by an impairment of the BSH is the result of a current study that was recently published in “nature neuroscience“We show that disruption of the blood-brain barrier is evident during acute infection and in sufferers with long-term COVID with cognitive impairment, commonly referred to as ‘brain fog’,” the research group announces Professor Matthew Campbell from Trinity College Dublin and Doctor Colin Doherty from St James’s Hospital in Dublin introduced the study.
Impaired protective function of the blood-brain barrier made visible
Methodologically, the researchers used so-called dynamic, contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This made it possible to see that more contrast medium reached the brain tissue of people suffering from COVID-19. This would be prevented if the blood-brain barrier was functioning, as it protects the brain from invading substances.
As a result, the researchers were able to determine that the disruption of the blood-brain barrier they assumed was actually the cause of the impaired consciousness: “Our work provides objective evidence of a connection between BBB disruption and cognitive impairment in a cohort of patients with long-term COVID.”
BBB integrity useful clinical biomarkers
The researchers conclude from their results that measuring BBB integrity in some patients could be a clinically useful biomarker for the neurological consequences associated with COVID-19. However, the group points out its small sample size of 76 corona infected people.
According to the “Day mirrors” Campbell, Doherty and colleagues are convinced that coronavirus is not the only viral infection that damages the brain in this way, so their findings are likely to change the way post-viral neurological diseases are understood and treated, according to Doherty.