29-24 – Biomarkers of neurological complications of COVID-19

Although SARS-CoV-2 causes a respiratory viral infection, there is a large incidence of neurological complications occurring in COVID-19 patients. These range from headache and loss of smell to delirium, encephalitis and stroke. Little is known about the likely diverse mechanisms causing these pathologies and there is a dire need to understand how to prevent and treat them. Our pre-clinical and clinical research has found several biomarkers of neurological complications from COVID-19. Overall, we highlight two key points that have emerged from increasing evidence: (1) SARS-CoV-2 does not directly invade the brain in the majority of cases and so the associated neurological complications might arise from indirect effects, such as immune activation (2) although the immune system plays a critical role in controlling the virus, its dysregulation can cause pathology.