Another possible use for Bryo???
UCSD Scientists Find COVID Damages Brain Cell Synapses, But Propose Treatment
Debbie Sklar
by Debbie L. Sklar
2 days ago
Microscope image of coronavirus
An electron microscope image of the new Omicron strain of coronavirus. Courtesy of NIAID-RML
An international team of researchers led by scientists at UC San Diego School of Medicine have shown that the virus which causes COVID-19 can damage brain cell synapses, according to a report published Thursday.
By using tiny, self-organized, three-dimensional tissue cultures derived from stem cells called organoids, the scientists found that the SARS- CoV-2 virus infects cortical neurons to damage and destroy the synapses — the connections between brain cells that allow them to communicate with each other.
“Vaccines and emerging treatments have reduced the health consequences of COVID-19 in most patients,” said senior study author Alysson R. Muotri, professor in departments of pediatrics and cellular and molecular at UCSD School of Medicine. “But the phenomenon of Long COVID, characterized by persisting symptoms that include neurological impairment, remains poorly understood and without any specific remedy.
“This work helps explain some of the neurological symptoms of COVID- 19 and, more importantly, it suggests that an FDA-approved antiviral drug might be repurposed to restore infected brain cells to health and address long-term neurological outcomes of COVID-19,” Muotri said.
The findings, published in Thursday’s issue of PLOS Biology, report the antiviral drug sofosbuvir — already an approved treatment for hepatitis C – – effectively inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication and reversed damages in infected brain organoids. Organoids can mimic some organ functions.
