Elevated cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of neuroinflammation in NeuroCOVID patients Neurology Neuro Coronavirus Disease COVID cerebrospinalfluid NeuroCOVID ResearchSquare
By Suchandrima BhowmikJul 4 2022Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. The association of SARS-CoV-2 infection with damage to the nervous system is not clearly understood. The non-exclusive mechanisms that can lead to NeuroCOVID can include invasion of the brain by the virus along the cranial nerve pathways or disruption of the blood barrier and compartmentalized or deleterious systemic immune response within the central nervous system .
Most of the previous studies on consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection on CNS highlighted neurodegeneration, acute neuronal injury, or neuroinflammation while only a few focused on biomarkers that characterized these different mechanisms. Therefore, further studies are required comprising large, well-characterized NeuroCOVID patients to understand the CNS damage pathogenesis and prevent it.
Data on the patients' medical history, along with neurophysiological recordings and clinical, neuroradiological, and biological investigations, were collected during their hospital stay. Patients were classified as having meningoencephalitis or encephalopathy and the disease severity was defined as moderate, mild, severe, or critical.
The patients reported a lumbar puncture within 5 days of neurological symptom onset. Only CSF pleocytosis, albumin ratio, and protein levels were found to be elevated in meningoencephalitis patients, while no other difference in biomarkers was observed. Isoelectric focusing patterns 2 and 3 were observed in 50% of patients with severe disease, 25% of patients with moderate disease, and 70% of those with critical disease.
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