Department of Neurology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Age-Related Cardiac and Cerebral Diseases, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, 524000, China.
Department of Trauma Center, Hengyang Medical School, Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang, 421002, China.
J Neuroinflammation. 2022 Sep 7;19(1):222. doi: 10.1186/s12974-022-02579-8.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has led to a global pandemic. Although COVID-19 was initially described as a respiratory disease, there is growing evidence that SARS-CoV-2 is able to invade the brains of COVID-19 patients and cause cognitive impairment. It has been reported that SARS-CoV-2 may have invasive effects on a variety of cranial nerves, including the olfactory, trigeminal, optic, and vagus nerves, and may spread to other brain regions via infected nerve endings, retrograde transport, and transsynaptic transmission. In addition, the blood-brain barrier (BBB), composed of neurovascular units (NVUs) lining the brain microvasculature, acts as a physical barrier between nerve cells and circulating cells of the immune system and is able to regulate the transfer of substances between the blood and brain parenchyma. Therefore, the BBB may be an important structure for the direct and indirect interaction of SARS-CoV-2 with the brain via the blood circulation. In this review, we assessed the potential involvement of neuroinvasion under the SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the potential impact of BBB disorder under SARS-CoV-2 infection on cognitive impairment.
新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）由严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）引起，已导致全球大流行。虽然 COVID-19 最初被描述为一种呼吸道疾病，但越来越多的证据表明，SARS-CoV-2 能够侵入 COVID-19 患者的大脑并导致认知障碍。据报道，SARS-CoV-2 可能对多种颅神经具有侵袭作用，包括嗅觉、三叉神经、视神经和迷走神经，并且可能通过感染的神经末梢、逆行运输和突触间传递传播到其他大脑区域。此外，由大脑微血管内皮细胞组成的血脑屏障（BBB）充当神经细胞和循环免疫细胞之间的物理屏障，并能够调节血液和脑实质之间物质的转移。因此，BBB 可能是 SARS-CoV-2 通过血液循环与大脑直接和间接相互作用的重要结构。在这篇综述中，我们评估了 SARS-CoV-2 感染下的神经侵袭的潜在可能性，以及 SARS-CoV-2 感染下 BBB 障碍对认知障碍的潜在影响。
