The new coronavirus may enter the brain through the nose

new coronavirus may be able to enter the human brain through the nose, according to a new study published online Monday in the British journal Nature Neuroscience. This finding may help explain some of the neurological symptoms observed in people infected with the new coronavirus and provide reference for the diagnosis and prevention of infection.The new coronavirus not only affects the respiratory tract, but also the central nervous system, resulting in neurological symptoms such as loss of smell, taste, headache, fatigue, nausea and so on. Although new research has found viral RNA in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid, it remains unclear how the virus enters and how it is distributed in the brain.With this in mind, Frank Hepperner, a scientist at the Schalette University School of Medicine in Berlin, Germany, and colleagues studied the brains and nasopharynx (the upper part of the throat, connected to the nasal cavity) of 33 patients (22 men and 11 women) who died of neo-coronavirus infections, which may have been the first place the virus was infected and replicated. At the time of their death, the middle age was 71.6 years, with a mid-day interval of 31 days from the on-the-spot symptoms of new coronavirus infection to death.The team found RNA and proteins for the new coronavirus in the brain and nasopharyngeals, as well as complete virus particles in the nasopharyngeals. Among them, the olfactory mucosa found the highest level of viral RNA. They point out that there is a negative correlation between the course of the disease and the level of the virus detected, indicating that the shorter the course of the disease, the higher the RNA levels of the new coronavirus found in the body.The researchers also found new coronavirus tingling proteins in specific cell types of the olfactory mucosa, which use the endoder and adjacent nerve tissue to enter the brain. They found new coronavirus tingling proteins in the cells of some infected people expressing neuron markers -- indicating that olfactory neurons may be infected; New coronavirus have also been found in other areas of the nervous system, including myelin, the brain's main respiratory and cardiovascular control center.Researchers say new coronavirus infection studies with samples are still needed to determine the exact mechanism that mediated the virus's entry into the brain and to look for other possible pathways to invasion. (Science and Technology Daily)