“Startling link” between COVID-19 and blood markers linked to Alzheimer
Researchers from Imperial College London and the UK Dementia Research Institute have found that people who previously had COVID-19 were more likely to show increased levels of biomarkers linked to faulty amyloid proteins, one of the key indicators of Alzheimer’s disease.
The team analyzed biomarkers in 1,252 participants from the UK Biobank, aged 46 to 80 years of age, both before and after confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections. Researchers then compared these biomarkers to those in participants with similar characteristics, but without evidence of any prior infection.
On average, the effects were comparable to four years of ageing, with the greatest effects seen in those hospitalized with severe COVID-19 or with underlying risk factors for dementia such as smoking or high blood pressure. These results raise the possibility that COVID-19 might contribute to an increase in later risks of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Eugene Duff, first author on the study from the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London, said: “Our findings suggest COVID-19 may drive changes which contribute to neurodegenerative disease. We think this may be due to the inflammation triggered by the disease, although how this inflammation might impact the brain and changes to amyloid is not yet fully clear.”
Professor Paul Matthews, Group Leader in the UK Dementia Research Institute, Edmond and Lily Safra Chair Professor of Clinical Neurosciences and senior author on the paper, said: “We’ve long suspected a link between infectious diseases and the progression of neurodegenerative disease – both with viral diseases, like herpes and influenza, and with some chronic bacterial infections. This latest analysis suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection could potentially be another of these drivers of disease, particularly among those with underlying risk factors. More studies now are needed to prove any causal links.”
The findings are published in the scientific review Nature Medicine.
