Selected Grantee Publications

SARS-CoV-2 Infects Neurons and Induces Neuroinflammation in a Non-Human Primate Model of COVID-19

Beckman et al., Cell Reports. 2022.

https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111573

SARS-CoV-2 causes brain fog and other neurological complications in some patients. It has been unclear whether SARS-CoV-2 infects the brain directly or whether central nervous system sequelae result from systemic inflammatory responses triggered in the periphery. Using a rhesus macaque model, researchers detected SARS-CoV-2 in the olfactory cortex and interconnected regions 7 days after infection, demonstrating that the virus enters the brain through the olfactory nerve. Neuroinflammation and neuronal damage were more severe in elderly monkeys with type 2 diabetes. The researchers found that in aged monkeys, SARS-CoV-2 traveled farther along nerve pathways to regions associated with Alzheimer's disease. Supported by ORIP (P51OD011107) and NIA.