Researchers: Cameron D Owens, Camila Bonin Pinto, Sam Detwiler, Peter Mukli, Anna Peterfi, Zsofia Szarvas, Jordan R Hoffmeister, Juliette Galindo, Jila Noori, Angelia C Kirkpatrick, Tarun W Dasari, Judith James, Stefano Tarantini, Anna Csiszar, Zoltan Ungvari, Calin I Prodan, Andriy Yabluchanskiy
Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is the leading cause of vascular cognitive impairment and is associated with COVID-19. However, contributing factors that often accompany CSVD pathology in COVID-19 patients may influence the incidence of cerebrovascular complications. Thus, a mechanism linking COVID-19 and CSVD has yet to be uncovered and differentiated from age-related comorbidities (i.e., hypertension), and medical interventions during acute infection. We aimed to evaluate CSVD in acute and recovered COVID-19 patients and to differentiate COVID-19-related cerebrovascular pathology from the above-mentioned contributing factors by assessing the localization of microbleeds and ischemic lesions/infarctions in the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem. A systematic search was performed in December 2022 on PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase using a pre-established search criterion related to history of, or active COVID-19 with CSVD pathology in adults. From a pool of 161 studies, 59 met eligibility criteria and were included. Microbleeds and ischemic lesions had a strong predilection for the corpus callosum and subcortical/deep white matter in COVID-19 patients, suggesting a distinct CSVD pathology. These findings have important implications for clinical practice and biomedical research as COVID-19 may independently, and through exacerbation of age-related mechanisms, contribute to increased incidence of CSVD.
References
- Why does COVID-19 disproportionately affect older people?
- Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) supplementation rescues cerebromicrovascular endothelial function and neurovascular coupling responses and improves cognitive function in aged mice.
- Navitoclax improves functional hyperemia in aged mice.
- Mechanisms of Vascular Aging.
Topic: Geroscience