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Journal Article Ppublish 47 citations

PubMed: 35876935 DOI: 10.1007/s10495-022-01754-9

COVID-19 causes neuronal degeneration and reduces neurogenesis in human hippocampus.

Apoptosis 27(11-12):852-868

Authors: Amir-Hossein Bayat, Helia Azimi, Meysam Hassani Moghaddam, Vahid Ebrahimi, Mobina Fathi, Kimia Vakili, Gholam-Reza Mahmoudiasl, Mahdi Forouzesh, Mahdi Eskandarian Boroujeni, Zahra Nariman, Hojjat-Allah Abbaszadeh, Arefeh Aryan, Abbas Aliaghaei, Mohammad-Amin Abdollahifar

Affiliations

  • Department of Basic Sciences, Saveh University of Medical Sciences, Saveh, Iran.
  • Skull Base Research Center, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  • Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  • Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
  • Student Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  • Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, Tehran, Iran.
  • Legal Medicine Research Center, Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, Tehran, Iran.
  • Laboratory of Human Molecular Genetics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland.
  • Laser Application in Medical Sciences Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  • Anatomy Department, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
  • Skull Base Research Center, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  • Department of Cell Biology and Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  • Department of Biology and Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  • Skull Base Research Center, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  • Department of Cell Biology and Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Recent investigations of COVID-19 have largely focused on the effects of this novel virus on the vital organs in order to efficiently assist individuals who have recovered from the disease. In the present study we used hippocampal tissue samples extracted from people who died after COVID-19. Utilizing histological techniques to analyze glial and neuronal cells we illuminated a massive degeneration of neuronal cells and changes in glial cells morphology in hippocampal samples. The results showed that in hippocampus of the studied brains there were morphological changes in pyramidal cells, an increase in apoptosis, a drop in neurogenesis, and change in spatial distribution of neurons in the pyramidal and granular layer. It was also demonstrated that COVID-19 alter the morphological characteristics and distribution of astrocyte and microglia cells. While the exact mechanism(s) by which the virus causes neuronal loss and morphology in the central nervous system (CNS) remains to be determined, it is necessary to monitor the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection on CNS compartments like the hippocampus in future investigations. As a result of what happened in the hippocampus secondary to COVID-19, memory impairment may be a long-term neurological complication which can be a predisposing factor for neurodegenerative disorders through neuroinflammation and oxidative stress mechanisms.

MeSH

Infections, Cells, Hippocampus, Neurogenesis, Covid-19

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