Research has been published to support the hypothesis that patients with COVID-19 have seizures or delirium symptoms because the virus directly attacks brain cells.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on a thesis by Yale University immunologist Akiko Iwasaki that it is possible for the coronavirus to directly attack brain cells on the 10th (local time), and that it could have more fatal consequences than infection in other parts of the body.
Dr. Iwasaki studied the process of corona 19 attacking brain cells by using organ analogs made from experimental mice and stem cells along with brain cells of patients who died from Corona 19.
It has been shown that Corona 19 that has invaded the brain does not directly attack brain cells.
Instead, it is the result of Dr. Iwasaki's research that it reproduces through the cloning function of brain cells and then blocks the supply of oxygen to cause necrosis of nerve cells.
The human body's immune function works against viruses that directly attack brain cells like the Zika virus, but as revealed in this study, when the virus attacks secretly, the immune function does not work.
Dr. Iwasaki's research is consistent with the results of other studies that confirmed brain cell damage due to lack of oxygen supply in patients who died from Corona 19.
Until now, it has been common in the medical community that coronavirus is virtually impossible to penetrate the brain unlike the respiratory tract.
Corona 19 penetrates cells using angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) from the host cell, but ACE2 is virtually non-existent in the brain.
However, Dr. Iwasaki says he has confirmed that Corona 19 can invade the brain using synapses, which are the junctions of nerve cells (neurons) in the brain.
However, some people argue that the reason that corona19 patients show symptoms related to the nervous system such as seizures is not because the brain cells were directly attacked by the virus, but because inflammation in other parts of the body affected brain cells.
Dr. Iwasaki's research has been published online, but no expert review has yet been made for publication in the journal.
(Photo = Yonhap News)