COVID-19 Infection and Neuropathological Features

Medicines (Basel). 2021 Oct 11;8(10):59. doi: 10.3390/medicines8100059.

Abstract

The pathology associated with COVID-19 infection is progressively being revealed. Recent postmortem assessments have revealed acute airway inflammation as well as diffuse alveolar damage, which bears resemblance to severe acute respiratory syndromes induced by both SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV infections. Although recent papers have highlighted some neuropathologies associated with COVID-19 infection, little is known about this topic of great importance in the area of public health. Here, we discuss how neuroinflammation related to COVID-19 could be triggered by direct viral neuroinvasion and/or cytokine release over the course of the infection.

Keywords: COVID-19 infection; autoantibodies; neuroinflammation; neuropathology.