Though COVID-19's main effects are primarily respiratory in nature, several patients also go through neurological symptoms. These include the loss of smell, epilepsy, headaches, ataxia, cognitive loss, and encephalopathy.
Limited Understanding of How COVID-19 Affects the CNS and Brain
SciTechDaily notes that, despite this, the virus's impact on the nervous system is not yet fully understood. It is also unclear as to how COVID-19 vaccine can help in not just dealing with the persisting virus but also in preventing its spread to the central nervous system and in safeguarding the body against brain damage.
COVID-19 Vaccine That Can Protect Against Brain Damage
Recent research efforts utilized a mouse model to show how COVID-19 is capable of affecting various brain regions and of leading to brain damages. The said research also shows how the novel CNB-CSIC vaccine is capable of protecting against brain infection. Findings were included in the Nature Neuroscience journal.
The research was performed by a Spanish research team with multiple disciplines. The leaders were Dr. Javider Villadiego, Dr. Juan José Toledo-Aral, and Juan García-Arriaza. This was performed in collaboration with other teams from the University of Seville as well as the CSIC or Spanish National Research Council.
The specialists looked into the viral infection's evolution across various regions of the brain. They have noted that viral replication mainly takes place in neurons and leads to the production of neuropathological alterations. Such changes include glial activation, vascular damage, and neuronal loss. Dr. Villadiego explains that the team have conducted intricate molecular and anatomo-pathological research on the specific brain regions and cell types that were affected by the coronavirus. He notes how remarkable it is that the virus affects various areas and particularly neurons.
When the brain infection pattern got established, the specialists looked into the COVID-19 vaccine's efficacy. The results showed that administering one dose completely prevents coronavirus infections across all the studied brian regions. Other than that, it also prevents the linked brain damage even after one gets reinfected. Such findings show strong efficacy and immunogenic capacities of the vaccine that lead to sterilizing immunity within the brain.
News Medical reports how such results lead to important implications in the long run pertaining to understanding the coronavirus infections. Researcher José López-Barneo notes how the generated data is compatible with the brain pathologies seen in patients infected with COVID-19. He notes how their study is the first that provides a vaccine that is 100% capable of combating brian damage due to COVID-19 among susceptible mouse models. The generated results strongly propose that the vaccine could also prevent lasting COVID-19 among infected individuals.
The data offered by the study as well as other findings from previous studies on vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy help in supporting the first phase of clinical trials of the said vaccine, or other similar prototypes, in order to look into its actual immunogenicity and safety.
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