Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jan 16, 2025 9 hours, 30 minutes ago
Medical News: A groundbreaking study conducted by researchers from the Department of Neurology, Department of Radiology, and Department of Immunology at Hospital Universitario Clínico San Carlos in Madrid, Spain, in collaboration with the Focus Program Translational Neuroscience at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, has unveiled critical insights into the neurological impacts of long COVID, also known as post-COVID condition (PCC).
Enlarged Choroid Plexus in Long COVID Linked to Cognitive and Brain Changes
The findings shed light on how changes in the choroid plexus (ChP) - a brain structure responsible for cerebrospinal fluid production and immune regulation - may contribute to persistent cognitive impairments in long COVID patients.
Choroid Plexus and Its Role in Brain Health
The choroid plexus, located within the brain’s ventricular system, performs essential functions such as producing and maintaining cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and regulating the blood-CSF barrier. This barrier plays a pivotal role in neuroimmune regulation, controlling the entry of immune cells and other molecules into the brain. Emerging research has identified the ChP as a potential gateway for inflammation, especially in conditions involving neuroinflammation. Damage to the ChP epithelium has already been associated with various neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.
This
Medical News report delves into a study aimed at understanding the relationship between ChP volume, cognitive impairments, and structural brain changes in patients with long COVID. The researchers analyzed neuroimaging, cognitive assessments, and immunological markers in affected individuals.
Study Overview
The research involved 129 long COVID patients, assessed on average 14.79 months after their initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, alongside 36 healthy controls. Participants underwent detailed neuropsychological evaluations, advanced neuroimaging scans, and blood tests to measure immune markers. Notably, long COVID patients exhibited significant cognitive deficits, particularly in areas such as attention, memory, and executive function.
Key Findings
-Enlarged Choroid Plexus Volume
The study revealed that individuals with long COVID had a significantly larger ChP volume compared to healthy controls. This enlargement was strongly associated with cognitive dysfunction, where patients with greater ChP volume demonstrated poorer performance in cognitive tests measuring attention and memory.
-Structural Brain Changes
Enlarged ChP volume correlated with reduced gray matter (GM) volume in key brain regions, including the frontal lobe, insula, hippocampus, and thalamus. These regions are critical for higher cognitive functions, emotional regulation, and memory. Moreover, reductions in GM volume were linked to poorer cognitive performance, highlighting the ChP’s role in b
rain health.
-White Matter Alterations
Changes in white matter (WM) integrity were observed, particularly in tracts near the ChP, such as the fornix and anterior thalamic radiation. Reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased axial diffusivity (AD) - markers of WM disruption - were linked to attention and memory deficits.
-Functional Connectivity Changes
Functional connectivity (FC) analysis revealed alterations in the brain’s network dynamics. Increased ChP volume was associated with changes in connectivity between the orbitofrontal cortex, caudate, and posterior cingulate cortex, regions involved in executive function and emotional regulation.
-Immunological Insights
Blood tests highlighted significant changes in immune cell profiles, particularly involving intermediate monocytes. These pro-inflammatory cells appeared to interact with the ChP, suggesting a role in driving neuroinflammation. Patients with larger ChP volumes showed heightened immune cell migration, likely exacerbating inflammation within the brain.
Implications of the Findings
The study’s findings underscore the importance of the ChP as a marker of neuroinflammation in long COVID. Enlarged ChP volume appears to act as a mediator, linking structural and functional brain changes to cognitive impairments. These insights align with prior research on other neurological disorders, emphasizing the ChP’s vulnerability to immune and inflammatory processes.
Conclusion
The conclusions of this research are profound. Enlarged choroid plexus volume in long COVID patients is closely associated with reduced gray matter, disrupted white matter integrity, altered functional connectivity, and cognitive impairments. The study suggests that targeting the ChP could serve as a therapeutic strategy for alleviating cognitive deficits in long COVID. Longitudinal studies are needed to further explore the ChP’s role and its potential as a biomarker for neuroinflammation.
The study findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal: Molecular Psychiatry.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1038/s41380-024-02886-x
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https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-causes-reversible-cerebral-vasoconstriction-syndrome-that-lasts-for-months
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/impact-of-covid-19-on-blood-brain-barrier-and-alzheimer-risk
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/french-scientists-find-that-sars-cov-2-can-replicate-and-persist-in-the-brainstem-for-lengthy-periods
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/coronavirus
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