A team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Kolkata, has conducted research on the neuro-invasive potential of Covid-19, and believe that the virus may infect the respiratory centre of the brain. A statement released by the researchers suggested that attention should be focused on the respiratory centre of the central nervous system to learn about mortality due to coronavirus.
Published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience and supported by Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), the paper implies that coronavirus could enter the human brain through the nose and reach the olfactory bulb of the brain. From there, the virus might infect Pre-Botzinger complex (PBC), the primary centre of the brain that controls the respiratory rhythm generation.
The team of researchers included Dr Prem Tripathi, Dr Upasana Ray, Dr Amit Srivastava and Dr Sonu Gandhi. They suggested that while the lung is one of the most infected organs, several other organs, including the brain, are also affected by Covid-19. This is the first report that highlights that SARS-CoV-2 may target the PBC of the brainstem that controls respiration and causes respiratory collapse of Covid-19 patients.
The scientists suggest that cerebrospinal fluid of patients and postmortem of the brain of the deceased should be assessed to better understand the route of SARS-CoV-2 entry and its spread to the respiratory centre of the brain.
