Science and Technology Daily Paris, March 22 (Reporter Li Hongce) Recently, a study by the Lille Center of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research shows that the new crown infection will affect the human brain, May cause long-term brain aging and reduced fertility.
Vincent Prevot, director of research at the laboratory, told French media that the team studied the long-term effects of the new crown infection, including on brain aging and fertility, and the results were impressive Fear that the worst-case scenario would be a major wave of infertility.
Researchers have been studying infected mouse, hamster and human brains for nearly two years, taking MRIs, blood tests and cognitive tests every three months. This includes ongoing follow-up testing of 50 hospitalized patients with Covid-19.
The team’s study of about 60 critically ill COVID-19 patients showed that most had testicular dysfunction caused by a brain disorder, strengthening previous hypotheses that infections may reduce fertility . The researchers will further investigate whether the reproductive function neurons of the patients are damaged. Prevot said it is not yet known whether infants infected with the new coronavirus will be affected in their reproductive function in adulthood, but neuronal damage may also lead to mental decline.
Experiments in mice show that even mild symptoms can affect the brain and have the potential to transform into a degenerative disease within 20 to 30 years, according to the lab researchers.
Prevot said: “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have suspected that infection with the new coronavirus may have an effect on the brain, and several subsequent studies have formally confirmed this.”
In 2021, a study by the Pasteur Institute in France confirmed that the new coronavirus can infect the brain by infecting neurons in the nasal cavity. Another joint study by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research and the Pasteur Institute found that the new coronavirus may attack the cerebrovascular endothelial cells of the human brain and cause microbleeds.
In March of this year, a study by Oxford University based on long-term observation of a large number of patients confirmed that infection with the new coronavirus, even with mild symptoms, can cause brain damage. There was cerebellar atrophy and greater cognitive decline. On average, Covid-19 infection causes 0.2% to 2% more brain tissue loss than people without the disease, equivalent to a year of brain aging. The most affected nervous system is the area associated with taste and smell, and loss of smell and taste is one of the characteristic symptoms of COVID-19 infection. In addition, brain regions associated with memory may also be affected by the lesions, and it remains to be seen whether these effects are irreversible.
Prevot said: “The assumption now is that infection with Covid-19 may increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. This is not good news, we have been in another century in the past century. This is seen in the pandemic. Many patients who survived the Spanish flu later developed Parkinson’s disease. Loss of smell is one of the symptoms of Covid-19 infection and a warning sign of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease .”