| Author/Editor | Tavčar, Petra; Potokar, Maja; Kolenc, Marko; Korva, Miša; Avšič-Županc, Tatjana; Zorec, Robert; Jorgačevski, Jernej | |
| Title | Neurotropic viruses, astrocytes, and COVID-19 | |
| Type | članek | |
| Vol. and No. | , št. Vol. 15 | |
| Publication year | 2021 | |
| Volume | str. 1-14 | |
| ISSN | 1662-5102 - Frontiers in cellular neuroscience | |
| Language | eng | |
| Abstract | At the end of 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV- 2) was discovered in China, causing a new coronavirus disease, termed COVID-19 by the WHO on February 11, 2020. At the time of this paper (January 31, 2021), more than 100 million cases have been recorded, which have claimed over 2 million lives worldwide. The most important clinical presentation of COVID-19 is severe pneumonia; however, many patients present various neurological symptoms, ranging from loss of olfaction, nausea, dizziness, and headache to encephalopathy and stroke, with a high prevalence of inflammatory central nervous system (CNS) syndromes. SARS-CoV-2 may also target the respiratory center in the brainstem and cause silent hypoxemia. However, the neurotropic mechanism(s) by which SARS-CoV-2 affects the CNS remain(s) unclear. In this paper, we first address the involvement of astrocytes in COVID-19 and then elucidate the present knowledge on SARS-CoV-2 as a neurotropic virus as well as several other neurotropic flaviviruses (with a particular emphasis on the West Nile virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, and Zika virus) to highlight the neurotropic mechanisms that target astroglial cells in the CNS. These key homeostasis-providing cells in the CNS exhibit many functions that act as a favorable milieu for virus replication and possibly a favorable environment for SARS-CoV-2 as well. The role of astrocytes in COVID- 19 pathology, related to aging and neurodegenerative disorders, and environmental factors, is discussed. Understanding these mechanisms is key to better understanding the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and for developing new strategies to mitigate the neurotropic manifestations of COVID-19. | |
| Keywords | neurotropic virus flavivirus COVID-19 nevrotropni virus flavivirus COVID-19 |