#COVID19-associated #neuroinflammation and #astrocyte death in the #brain linked to ORF3a-induced activation of Sur1-mediated ion channels
ABSTRACT The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionately affected individuals with pre-existing medical conditions , such as neurocognitive disorders. Premorbid neurocognitive conditions compounded by COVID-19 can escalate into COVID-associated neurological complications , leading to severe illness or even death. As COVID-19 continues to persist and vaccines lose efficacy against emerging variants , individuals with neurocognitive disorders often experience prolonged symptoms that are further exacerbated by repeated breakthrough infections of highly diversified viral variants due to emergence of new viral mutations. Despite the significance of neurocognitive disorders as risk factors for COVID-19-related mortality and long COVID, the underlying causes remain largely unknown. In this study, we report a link between ORF3a expression and COVID-associated neuroinflammation and neurocytotoxicity in postmortem brain tissues from COVID-19 patients. These findings...