Long COVID could become a widespread post-pandemic disease? A debate on the organs most affected

Abstract

Long COVID is an emerging problem in the current health care scenario. It is a syndrome with common symptoms of shortness of breath, fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and other conditions that have a high impact on daily life. They are fluctuating or relapsing states that occur in patients with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection for at least 2 months. They are usually conditions that at 3 months after onset cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis. Currently very little is known about this syndrome. A thorough review of the literature highlights that the cause is attributable to deposits of tau protein. Massive phosphorylation of tau protein in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection occurred in brain samples from autopsies of people previously affected with COVID-19. The neurological disorders resulting from this clinical condition are termed tauopathies and can give different pathological symptoms depending on the involved anatomical region of the brain. Peripheral small-fiber neuropathies are also evident among patients with Long COVID leading to fatigue, which is the main symptom of this syndrome. Certainly more research studies could confirm the association between tau protein and Long COVID by defining the main role of tau protein as a biomarker for the diagnosis of this syndrome that is widespread in the post-pandemic period.

Keywords: Long COVID; Neurological disorders; Neuropathies; Post pandemic; Protein tau.