Tissues from the brains of kids living in Mexico City show features linked to Alzheimer's disease: amyloid-ß plaques, neuronal phosphorylated tau protein tangles & frontal pyramidal immunoreactivity of DNA-binding protein 1/
Furthermore, the city children, with no other risk factors for brain disorders, performed comparatively poorly on cognitive tasks. 2/
It’s well established that air pollution, in the form of particulate matter, ozone or other toxic gases, contributes to asthma, lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses, and that particulate matter especially contributes to heart disease. 3/
Studies have shown that higher levels of air pollution are correlated with increased risks of dementia, as well as higher rates of depression, anxiety & psychosis. Researchers found links to neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism & cognitive deficits in children. 4/
Neuroimaging revealed that many more children living in the highly polluted city had lesions in the white-matter tracts that connect brain regions than did children in less-polluted areas, with the prefrontal cortex seeming particularly vulnerable. 5/
A recent 16-year study of >200,000 residents in Scotland found that higher cumulative nitrogen dioxide exposure was associated with increased hospital admissions for mental-health and behavioural disorders 6/
Meanwhile, studies in France, the United States and China have documented that in regions where air quality has improved, there are decreased rates of dementia, cognitive decline and depression in older populations. 7/
Few studies have also linked air pollution to structural changes in the brain, such as reduced hippocampal volume, that are consistent with heightened dementia risk in older adults. 8/
Mice exposed to ultrafine particles during development — including in the womb, from their mothers’ breathing — have enlarged white-matter tracts and brain ventricles. Mice exposed during development went on to exhibit greater impulsivity and short-term memory deficits. 9/
In older animals, air pollution seems to accelerate the deposition of the amyloid and tau proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Other animal studies have found damage at the anatomical, cellular and molecular levels. 10/
Brain scans show areas of reduced cortical thickness (coloured regions) in children exposed to higher levels of traffic pollution during their first year of life. 11/
Although signs of damage vary from study to study, Caleb Finch, who researches ageing at the University of Southern California, says that there is one shared facet: “It’s an inflammatory response”. 12/
Studies show that the genes that mediate inflammatory responses are switched on;
messengers associated with inflammation become more abundant; there are signs of oxidative stress & microglial cells that sense damage & protect neurons are activated 13/13
A NEW study finds that anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies play a protective role against vital organ-related #LongCovid (LC) symptoms, especially cardiovascular symptoms, but are insufficient in preventing or limiting other highly prevalent LC symptoms, such as neurological, psychiatric and pulmonary. 1/
These data underscore the complexity of the potential involvement of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune responses in either protecting against or contributing to the development of different #LongCovid phenotypes. 2/
The disturbed immunological profile supports the idea of some sort of silent longCOVID, that may eventually manifest as critical clinical events, such as acute myocardial infarction or cerebral vascular accidents. 3/
A meta-analysis from Egypt of 125 studies involving over 4 million COVID survivors shows that months to years after infection, fatigue was the most common symptom at 43%. Around 27% of people experience cognitive impairment after COVID infection. 1/
Further, 28% experienced memory issues, 24% sleep disorders, 20% headaches, 16% dizziness, 14% depression, and 13% anxiety, with significant variability depending on follow‑up time, disease severity, sex, and BMI. 2/
Neurological symptoms are common & persistent in COVID survivors. This study highlights significant burden these symptoms place on individuals, emphasizing the need for well-resourced multidisciplinary healthcare services to support post-COVID recovery. 3/3
A new review on neuroimmune pathophysiology of #LongCOVID explores how SARS-CoV-2 can cause lasting neurological symptoms through a combination of direct infection, immune dysregulation, and persistent inflammation. 1/
Key mechanisms include viral antigen persistence, autoimmunity, blood–brain barrier disruption, neurotransmitter imbalances, and glial cell dysfunction. The authors link these processes to cognitive impairment, fatigue, dysautonomia, and other Long COVID symptoms. 2/
Despite the perception that COVID-19 is now a mild disease, there is overwhelming evidence indicating that SARS-CoV-2 infection is capable of producing widespread post-acute sequelae in a significant percentage of infections. 3/
As people get older, a growing population of cells starts to consume more energy — perhaps because the cells accumulate damage that leads them to rev up processes such as inflammation. 1/
An emerging hypothesis suggests that the brain accommodates these energy-hogging ‘senescent cells’ by stripping resources from other biological processes, which ultimately results in outward signs of ageing, such as greying hair or a reduction in muscle mass. 2/
It’s one example of a growing understanding of how our brains control ageing and how psychological stress can accelerate the process at a molecular level. 3/
A NEW study found that the SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural protein 15 (nsp15) helps the virus hide from the immune system in human lung and nasal cells. The nsp15 endoribonuclease is important in promoting virus replication and influencing disease severity. 1/
SARS2 variants lacking this activity exhibit impaired replication & cause milder disease, highlighting nsp15 as a key virulence factor. This underscores the importance of nsp15’s endoribonuclease activity in both promoting virus replication & influencing disease severity. 2/
The viral variants lacking nsp15 endoribonuclease activity elicited higher innate immune responses and exhibited reduced replication in human stem cell–derived lung alveolar type II epithelial cells, as well as in the lungs of infected hamsters. 3/
Researchers developed a 23-amino acid peptide that mimics ACE2 and effectively binds the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, preventing viral entry. 1/
The peptide demonstrated potent antiviral activity against both the original and Omicron strains, with a therapeutic index greater than 20, indicating strong potential for therapeutic use. 2/
Moreover, future viruses from this family of coronaviruses may likely use ACE2 as their host cell receptor, as recently demonstrated in the MERS Virus of bats and, therefore, the ACE2 decoy therapeutic may have future applications as well. 3/