Cerebrospinal fluid features in SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positive patients

Viral Infection-Induced Gut Dysbiosis, Neuroinflammation, and α-Synuclein Aggregation: Updates and Perspectives on COVID-19 and Neurodegenerative Disorders

The current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has gained increased attention in the neuroscience community, especially taking into account the neuroinvasive potential of its causative agent, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the impact of its infection on the structure and function of the brain. Apart from the neurotropic properties of SARS-CoV-2, it is likewise important the observation that virus infection may perturb specific cellular processes that are believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of diverse neurological disorders, particularly in Parkinson's disease (PD). In this scenario, viral infection-induced colon inflammation, gut microbial imbalance, and α-synuclein upregulation are of particular interest with regard to the interplay between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system (microbiome-gut-brain axis). In this Perspective, we present a critical view on the different hypotheses that are recently being raised by neuroscientists about the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and long-lasting neurodegenerative disorders, opening the question of whether COVID-19 might represent a risk factor for the development of PD.

Brain microvascular occlusive disorder in COVID-19: a case report

We describe the case of a COVID-19 patient with severely impaired consciousness after sedation hold, showing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of (i) acute bilateral supratentorial ischemic lesions involving the fronto-parietal white matter and the corpus callosum and (ii) multiple diffuse susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) hypointense foci, infra and supratentorial, predominantly bithalamic, suggestive of microhemorrhage or alternatively microthrombi. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA was detected in the cerebrospinal fluid. Our findings suggest the occurrence of vascular damage, predominantly involving microvessels. The underlying mechanisms, which include direct and indirect penetration of the virus to the central nervous system and systemic cardiorespiratory complications, are yet to be elucidated, and a direct correlation with SARS-CoV-2 infection remains uncertain.