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According to new research, long COVID symptoms, such as brain fog, could possibly be due to reduced serotonin levels.
The researchers also found that the cause of COVID’s widespread neurological symptoms would possibly start in the gut.
Experts the results.
Nearly one in five adult COVID-19 survivors suffer from long COVID, but experts are still inconclusive about the true reasons for the string of long-term complications. Now, new studies show a conceivable explanation for why some long COVID patients suffer from brain fog. and other cognitive deficits: a relief in serotonin levels.
A study published in Cell sheds new light on the mechanisms by which persistent inflammation after contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the virus that causes COVID-19) can cause long-term neurological symptoms. The researchers evaluated the effects of long COVID on blood and stool samples from clinical studies and in small animal models.
According to the Penn Medicine press release, researchers decided that a subset of long COVID patients had lines of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in their stool samples, even months after a COVID-19 infection. This suggests that parts of the virus remain in the gut of some patients long after infection. The researchers found that this remaining virus activates the immune formula to release virus-fighting proteins, called interferons. These interferons cause inflammation that reduces the absorption of the amino acid tryptophan in the gut. gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
Tryptophan is a building block of several neurotransmitters, along with serotonin, which is produced primarily in the gastrointestinal tract and carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and the body. It plays a key role in regulating memory, sleep, digestion, wound healing, and other functions that maintain the body’s homeostasis. Serotonin is also an important regulator of the vagus nerve, a set of neurons that ensure communication between the body and the brain.
The researchers found that when the virus remains in the gut long after the initial COVID infection, tryptophan absorption is reduced, and serotonin is depleted as a result. This leads to an alteration in vagus nerve signaling, which can cause several of the related symptoms. with long COVID, such as memory loss, brain fog, and more.
Long COVID is an organization of symptoms that persist long after the COVID infection has resolved, says Dr. Amit Sachdev, director of the Division of Neuromuscular Medicine at Michigan State University. “This can be accompanied by many neurological symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness and headaches. “Unfortunately,” Dr. Sachdev notes, “many long COVID patients are unable to return to their previous point of function.
Long COVID is an umbrella term for a constellation of lingering symptoms that Americans experience at least 3 months after infection, adds infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M. D. , a senior research scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
There is speculation that other people would possibly harbor SARS-CoV-2 in their gastrointestinal tract and that its presence would alter the absorption of a key precursor to serotonin, says Dr. Adalja. “This serotonin deficiency may also be just some of the symptoms of long COVID in a subset of patients,” he adds.
Many symptoms of long COVID are core or brain symptoms, Dr. Sachdev says. “This includes mental confusion, intellectual fatigue, and slowing of body movements (psychomotor retardation),” he notes. There is some overlap between the symptoms of long COVID. and the variety of symptoms we can observe in situations like depression, says Dr. Sachdev.
It’s not clear exactly why serotonin relief occurs, but it’s possible for the right patient to get better serotonin levels, Dr. Sachdev adds.
Right now, it’s unclear whether the SSRI (antidepressant) remedy can help, says Dr. Adalja. “Clinical trials can answer that question. “
For now, since it’s not known exactly why long COVID occurs, it wouldn’t be wise to try to cure it with SSRI drugs, Dr. Sachdev says.
This is a first study to offer speculation about a subset of long COVIDs, says Dr. Adalja. “More studies will be needed to dig deeper [to explain this link],” he says. For those suffering from long COVID, more needs to be done to perceive it, says Dr. Sachdev.
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