Blood-clotting protein may be SARS-CoV-2's hidden accomplice, helping it hide from antibodies and reach blood vessels

Amazing stuff!

Notice that the authors of this study could be considered to be "outsiders".

The lab leak hypothesis has never been disproven or refuted thanks to the secrecy and obstruction of the Communist Party of China! Was the SARS-Cov-2 just another naturally occurring coronavirus or something else?

Anthony Fauci made tremendous efforts to conceal and dismiss the lab leak hypothesis, because the Wuhan Institute of Virology (a dual research institute) did some research that was funded by the US government and US gain of function research was conducted there. How was this ever possible and approved!

"... The proposal offers a single mechanistic explanation for two features of COVID-19 that have long been treated as separate problems: the virus's ability to evade immunity and the vascular damage, microclotting and inflammation that characterize severe disease and long COVID. ...

SARS-CoV-2 is generally described as entering cells through the ACE2 receptor. But the spike protein carries clusters of positively charged lysine and arginine residues in its N-terminal domain (NTD) and receptor-binding domain (RBD).

In contrast, human fibrinogen is negatively charged at physiological pH. The authors argue this electrostatic attraction is more than incidental chemistry.

When fibrinogen binds the spike NTD, it can mask antigenic sites, providing a molecular shield against antibody detection. At the same time, the other end of the fibrinogen molecule, its gamma chain, engages endothelial receptors including the integrins αvβ3 and α5β1, platelet receptor GPIIb/IIIa and ICAM-1.

The result is a tether with the virus on one end and the blood vessel wall on the other. ..."

From the abstract:

"SARS-CoV-2 exploits multiple cellular entry routes. Beyond ACE2-mediated entry, we propose that the spike protein binds fibrinogen not only to facilitate immune evasion but also to position the receptor-binding domain for integrin-mediated uptake. This molecular bridge may enhance viral RNA delivery to endothelial cells. Targeting the spike protein–fibrinogen interface could open new therapeutic avenues for acute and post-COVID vascular disease."

Blood-clotting protein may be SARS-CoV-2's hidden accomplice, helping it hide from antibodies and reach blood vessels (This article was written by one of the authors of the research article below)

Fibrinogen as a Molecular Bridge Linking SARS-CoV-2 Immune Evasion and Endothelial Access? (no public access) "Fibrinogen as a Molecular Bridge Linking SARS-CoV-2 Immune Evasion and Endothelial Access?"

Visual abstract

COVID-19 can reawaken dormant viruses

Could this be more proof that a modified coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) or perhaps a biological weapon was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. The Institute is believed to be a dual use research institute. What did Anthony Fauci know about this?

Or is this result just due to the super intensive research into the cause of Covid-19?

Or was this expected to happen due to the typically weakened immune system of an individual after Covid-19 infection?

Such reactivations of dormant viruses is definitely something to be aware of!

"As if an infection with SARS-CoV-2 wasn’t enough for a body to handle, the coronavirus reawakens a variety of other, dormant viruses in some people. A large new study delving into this phenomenon shows this virus reactivation is complex and the health impact murky, but it could worsen symptoms of COVID-19 and increase a person’s risk of Long Covid.

The study looked at tissues samples and medical reports from more than 1000 COVID-19 patients early in the pandemic. “Nearly half of people … had a virus that they were already carrying wake up,” said neuroimmunologist and co-author Esther Melamed. “This happens [even] in people whose immune systems are otherwise normal.”

The work has impressed some SARS-CoV-2 researchers. “The scale of the endeavor and the range of human viruses they’ve looked at” makes this the most comprehensive data set yet on viral reactivation in COVID-19 ..."

"Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists noticed that a SARS-CoV-2 infection can “wake up” other, dormant viruses already present in the body.

A study out today in Nature extends those and subsequent observations, documenting viral reactivation for a cohort of more than 1000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 before mid-2021. ...

The findings, which were partially described in a preprint in late 2024, include data on viruses previously overlooked in COVID-19 patients, he adds. ..."

From the abstract:

"Chronic viral infections are ubiquitous in humans, with individuals carrying multiple viruses that can reactivate during physiological stress, including severe illness.

Notably, SARS-CoV-2 infection has been shown to reactivate chronic viruses such as Epstein–Barr virus and cytomegalovirus, yet the full extent, temporal dynamics and immunological impact of viral reactivation in COVID-19 remain incompletely understood.

Here, leveraging multi-omic longitudinal data from 1,154 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 from the Immunophenotyping Assessment in a COVID-19 Cohort (IMPACC) study, we reveal significant reactivation of Herpesviridae and Anelloviridae during acute COVID-19, with distinct temporal dynamics for different viruses, and demonstrate that reactivation correlates with disease severity, host immune effects and clinical outcomes.

Although our results do not establish causation between virus reactivation and clinical outcomes, we highlight the prevalence of chronic viral reactivation during acute COVID-19 and long COVID.

Our findings challenge the prevailing view that chronic viral reactivation is primarily a consequence of immunosuppression, demonstrating that reactivations occur frequently in immunocompetent individuals during severe illness and in association with increased systemic inflammation.

Additionally, we demonstrate persistence of viral reactivation in convalescence, and report an association of Anelloviridae with long COVID.

This study provides immune, transcriptomic and metabolomic signatures of viral reactivation that could inform future strategies to prognosticate and treat acute COVID-19 and long COVID."

ScienceAdviser

COVID-19 can wake up dormant viruses in the body, large study confirms "Virus reactivations by SARS-CoV-2 could worsen initial symptoms and increase risk of Long Covid"

Virus reactivation in acute and long COVID-19 (open access)

Chronic Viral Reactivation and Associated Host Immune Response and Clinical Outcomes in Acute COVID-19 and Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (preprint from 2024, open access)

Fig. 1: The transcriptionally active human virome of the blood, upper airway and lungs in patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19.

Fig. 3: Antibody response, proteomics, and circulating cellular immunophenotyping validates chronic viral reactivation in COVID-19.

US Senate committee votes 8 to 5 in favor of holding Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. Really!

That is about 5-6 years too late to deal with the Faustian bargain!

He was then already very suspect/guilty way back then of e.g. covering up the lab leak hypothesis (a modified virus that was possibly even a Chinese biological weapon)!

Why the Dimocratic Party has not been on board for years to investigate Anthony Fauci to the fullest extent possible is perverse!

The senile, demented and pathological liar 46th President has pardoned him in the meantime.

Anthony Fauci retired at a very well chosen time at the end of December 2022.

Anthony Fauci is now 85 years old. He can obtain a doctor's Competency Evaluation Report at any time to declare him unfit for trial!

P.S. I have covered Anthony Fauci here in great detail!

"... Committee Chairman Sen. Rand Paul chose to hold the vote within his GOP-led panel, instead of a full Senate vote. Committee Democrats on Wednesday opposed Paul's move. However, they failed to get enough votes to stop the process. ..."

Senate committee votes in favor of holding Fauci in contempt of Congress | Just The News "The vote follows Fauci invoking the Fifth Amendment, which protects people from self-incrimination, over 100 times during a committee last week's hearing on the pandemic response and the origins of the virus."

Anthony Fauci, no sympathy of the devil (Source)

Trump administration formally bans gain-of-function research Stopping High-Risk Life Sciences Research

Good news! Bravo! What took so long! 

We know since the SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 global pandemic what gain of function research can do! I have criticized this gain of function research on my blog since about the outbreak.

That the US federal government funded gain of function research e.g. at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China was a huge political scandal that was swept under the rug by news media and others! Anthony Fauci was guilty as well!

"... This policy stops dangerous gain-of-function research that has the potential to threaten lives, disrupt communities, strain public health systems, and undermine America’s economic and national security if not properly restricted and controlled. ...

The policy change comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year that banned federal funding for gain-of-function research in countries like China, which is believed to be at the heart of the COVID-19 lab leak in Wuhan. ..."

Trump administration formally bans gain-of-function research | Just The News "The State and Health and Human Services departments claim that although biomedical research has produced lifesaving vaccines and medical breakthroughs, it must never come at the expense of public safety or national security."

U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Stopping High-Risk Life Sciences Research (original news release)

As Director of NIAID, Anthony Fauci Admits in Jan 2020 Diary Entry That Coronavirus Likely a Lab Leak

If confirmed, then this is a bombshell! Unfortunately, Fauci was preemptively pardoned by the senile, demented and pathological liar 46th President and he is 85 years old!

Since 2020, I have here multiple times blogged that the lab leak is the most likely cause of the Covid-19 global pandemic!

Caveat: I had no time to read the article.

Fauci Admits in Jan 2020 Diary Entry That Coronavirus Likely a Lab Leak "Former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) head Anthony Fauci privately admitted that scientists suspected the coronavirus likely stemmed from a lab leak as he publicly blasted it as a wild conspiracy theory, revelations from his diary showcase."

Anthony Fauci and the Faustian bargain (Source)

Days after the 46th President inauguration, FBI shielded Wuhan lab collaborator from investigation after China trip

Will the truth about the dual use Wuhan Institute of Virology, where the US conducted euphemistically called gain of function research finally come out?

Unfortunately, so far way too slow and drip by drip!

"46th 's presidency began and ended with the shielding of individuals linked to decades' worth of dangerous gain-of-function experiments.

[The 46th President] concluded his presidency by issuing former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci a blanket pardon, going back all the way to Jan. 1, 2014 — around the time the Obama administration supposedly halted funding for gain-of-function research that makes pathogens more deadly and/or more transmissible. ..."

Days after Biden inauguration, FBI shielded Wuhan lab collaborator from investigation after China trip | Blaze Media "The National Targeting Center wanted to subject Peter Daszak to a Tactical Terrorism Response Team exam. The Biden FBI had other ideas."

US Senator Rand Paul pushes for Anthony Fauci indictment for lying about gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology

What the hell took so long! Unfortunately, Anthony Fauci strategically retired just in time and is now over 85 years old!

I have blogged here as early as 2020 or so that something was very fishy about the US federal government funding so called gain of function research at that Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, the possible source and lab leak of the SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 virus. This Institute of Virology is also suspected to do dual use research.

"Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday called for Anthony Fauci, former longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), to be indicted for what the senator claimed was his lying under oath about gain-of-function research.

“6 days from now, on May 11th, the statute of limitations expires on the possibility of indicting Anthony Fauci for denying under oath that he funded gain-of-function research involving bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, the origin city of the pandemic,” Paul wrote on social media. ..."

Rand Paul pushes for Anthony Fauci indictment

Credits: The Flyover

Anthony Fauci

Top Fauci aide at NIAID indicted on charges of concealing, falsifying records with respect to Covid-19

I am afraid Anthony Fauci will get away with his own criminal acts given his high age (about 85 years old)!

What about the lab leak hypothesis?

"David Morens, a former top National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases official, was indicted Tuesday on allegations that he concealed records from Freedom of Information Act requests. 

Trump administration officials said in a legal filing that Morens hid and falsified records to undermine debate about the origins of the virus that spurred the Covid-19 pandemic — and received kickbacks for doing so, including wine and offers of future meals at high-end restaurants. Morens was a senior adviser to former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, who is not named directly in the indictment. ..."

Top Fauci aide indicted on charges of concealing, falsifying records | STAT "Charges come after lengthy congressional probes related to the origins of SARS-CoV-2"

CDC vaccine panel unanimously votes to end universal COVID shot recommendation

Good news! Right decision! Bravo!

In short and in hindsight, SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 was not very dangerous in general especially not to children nor older adults, but very infectious and dangerous to immunocompromised individuals. Just a reminder: SARS-CoV-2 is a coronavirus similar to the cold virus.

China was not cooperating as it should have when Covid-19 started to spread beyond China. The (modified) virus originated most likely from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (a dual use research institution funded then e.g. even by the US for gain of function research).

CDC vaccine panel unanimously votes to end universal COVID shot recommendation | Just The News "The CDC panel voted to change the universal guidance, which previously recommended the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine for most adults, but Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr still needs to sign off on the change."

Large-scale DNA study maps 37,000 years of human disease history

Amazing stuff!

Unfortunately, this article also spreads the most likely false narrative that Covid-19 was spread by zoonosis and not as a human modified virus from a dual use virology institute in China.

"A new study suggests that our ancestors’ close cohabitation with domesticated animals and large-scale migrations played a key role in the spread of infectious diseases.

The team ... recovered ancient DNA from 214 known human pathogens in prehistoric humans from Eurasia.

They found that the earliest evidence of zoonotic diseases – illnesses transmitted from animals to humans, like COVID in recent times – dates back to around 6,500 years ago, with these diseases becoming more widespread approximately 5,000 years ago. ...

The study detected the world’s oldest genetic trace of the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, in a 5,500-year-old sample. The plague is estimated to have killed between one-quarter and one-half of Europe’s population during the Middle Ages.

In addition, the researchers found traces of many other diseases including:

Malaria (Plasmodium vivax) – 4,200 years ago

Leprosy (Mycobacterium leprae) – 1,400 years ago

Hepatitis B virus – 9,800 years ago

Diphtheria (Corynebacterium diphtheriae) – 11,100 years ago

..."

From the abstract:

"Infectious diseases have had devastating effects on human populations throughout history, but important questions about their origins and past dynamics remain.

To create an archaeogenetic-based spatiotemporal map of human pathogens, we screened shotgun-sequencing data from 1,313 ancient humans covering 37,000 years of Eurasian history. We demonstrate the widespread presence of ancient bacterial, viral and parasite DNA, identifying 5,486 individual hits against 492 species from 136 genera.

Among those hits, 3,384 involve known human pathogens, many of which had not previously been identified in ancient human remains.

Grouping the ancient microbial species according to their likely reservoir and type of transmission, we find that most groups are identified throughout the entire sampling period.

Zoonotic pathogens are only detected from around 6,500 years ago, peaking roughly 5,000 years ago, coinciding with the widespread domestication of livestock.

Our findings provide direct evidence that this lifestyle change resulted in an increased infectious disease burden. They also indicate that the spread of these pathogens increased substantially during subsequent millennia, coinciding with the pastoralist migrations from the Eurasian Steppe."

Large-scale DNA study maps 37,000 years of human disease history | University of Cambridge "Researchers have mapped the spread of infectious diseases in humans across millennia, to reveal how human-animal interactions permanently transformed our health today."

The spatiotemporal distribution of human pathogens in ancient Eurasia (open access)

Fig. 3: Spatiotemporal distribution of selected ancient pathogens.

Doctor who defected to U.S. says Chinese scientists trained to steal U.S. lab research for Communist Party of China

I have little doubt this is happening! It was similar to what the former Soviet Union did!

Hope and pray this defector will be sufficiently protected or he might be killed.

How did China catch up so quickly with the West?

"... Yan fled China in April 2020 to the United States, bringing with her claims that the COVID-19 virus was “produced in a laboratory” by Chinese scientists. She published several unreviewed papers with her arguments that were widely criticized by the U.S. medical establishment. ..."

Doctor who defected to U.S. says Chinese scientists trained to steal U.S. lab research for Beijing | Just The News "Li-Meng Yen, who fled China in the wake of COVID-19, warns that Chinese scientists in the U.S. have sworn to help the Chinese Communist Party by stealing trade secrets and research."

Broad-spectrum coronavirus drug developed through AI-enabled dynamic modeling and with film industry animation software

Good news! Humans are finally able to beat disease causing viruses!

Notice here broad-spectrum and coronavirus (the whole group of viruses not just SARS-Cov-2).

And again an already approved drug was successfully repurposed in this case!

"About 30% of all respiratory tract infections are caused by coronaviruses, leading to widespread illnesses and, in some cases, to epidemic and even pandemic outbreaks, as we experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic. ...

By creating a cohesive AI-enabled and physics-based molecular modeling and drug discovery pipeline built around film industry procedural animation software, they identified the orally available, FDA-approved drug bemcentinib, as a potential antiviral agent. However, to further optimize its activity with follow up support from Open Philanthropy-Good Ventures Foundation, they used this chemical compound as a launch pad for developing a more specific and effective antiviral drug with efficacy against a broad range of coronaviruses.  ..."

From the abstract:

"Development of oral, broad-spectrum therapeutics targeting SARS-CoV-2, its variants, and related coronaviruses could curb the spread of COVID-19 and avert future pandemics.

We created a novel computational discovery pipeline that employed molecular dynamics simulation (MDS), artificial intelligence (AI)-based docking predictions, and medicinal chemistry to design viral entry inhibitors that target a conserved region in the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein that mediates membrane fusion. DrugBank library screening identified the orally available, FDA-approved AXL kinase inhibitor bemcentinib as binding this site and we demonstrated that it inhibits viral entry in a kinase-independent manner.

Novel analogs predicted to bind to the same region and disrupt S protein conformational changes were designed using MDS and medicinal chemistry. These compounds significantly suppressed SARS-CoV-2 infection and blocked the entry of S protein-bearing pseudotyped α,β,γ,δ,ο variants as well as SARS CoV and MERS-CoV in human ACE2-expressing or DPP4-expressing cells more effectively than bemcentinib. When administered orally, the optimized lead compound also significantly inhibited SARS-CoV2 infection in mice. This computational design strategy may accelerate drug discovery for a broad range of applications."

Broad-spectrum coronavirus drug developed through AI-enabled dynamic modeling "Multidisciplinary AI- and physics-driven modeling of the viral fusion process enables discovery of an orally available drug inhibiting infection with multiple coronaviruses."

Broad-spectrum coronavirus inhibitors discovered by modeling viral fusion dynamics (open access)

Figure 1. The Spike (S) protein homotrimer facilitates membrane fusion.

Chinese neuroscientists’ work on early COVID-19 vaccine patent a smoking gun in probe of cover-up

It is several years overdue that the SARS-Cov-2/Covid-19 lab leak hypothesis is thoroughly investigated!

Other Western countries should have done so as well! Hopefully, they will join the US in this new investigation!

Was the release of the virus accidental or intentional? If it was intentional, then it was almost a perfect crime. Plausible deniability: The virus was released on its own territory first, thus victimizing the own population so it can spread to other parts of the world especially the US. Sounds crazy? Was the release of the virus meant to distract the world from something?

It was long ago reported that the Wuhan Institute of Virology is a dual use laboratory! Very suspicious!

That the US apparently funded and conducted so called gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was then covered up by the crooked Anthony Fauci. Was that kind of research allowed in the US at the time (hint: doubtful)? This aspect also needs to be fully investigated.

The 46th President was too senile, demented and corrupt (how much bribe money did the Biden clan take from China) to investigate!

"One of the smoking guns in the ongoing Trump administration probe into the COVID-19 cover-up is evidence suggesting that the Chinese suspected the novel virus may have neurological symptoms just weeks after it was officially identified, despite the fact that coronaviruses, historically, primarily affect the respiratory and digestive systems. 

Specifically, two scientists listed as authors on the first Chinese patent for a COVID-19 vaccine—that remarkably came about a month after the virus crossed the border into the U.S.—are affiliated with a neuroscience institute in Beijing that works closely with the Chinese military.  ..."

Chinese neuroscientists’ work on early COVID-19 vaccine patent a smoking gun in probe of cover-up | Just The News "The unusual collaboration between Chinese vaccine researchers and neuroscientists raises questions about how early China knew about COVID-19’s neurological symptoms, which are unusual for these types of viruses."

Trump keeps promise by signing Executive Order banning federal funding for gain-of-function research in countries like China and Iran

Good news! Bravo! About time!

It was perhaps one of the greatest, mostly underreported scandals of the Covid-19 pandemic that the US government funded gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is a also a bioweapons research institute. If I am not mistaken, this became known in 2020 and I blogged about it beginning in May 2021 (see e.g. here). The other huge and underreported scandal was the egregious, repeated abuse of the FISA court.

Then NIH Director Francis Collins and then Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Anthony Fauci (then age 80) were the main perpetrators of this scandal. Unfortunately, the first Trump Administration did not realize that! Trump should have fired or demoted these two charlatans/quacks! These two bad actors also undermined the lab leak hypothesis. Was this some kind of Faustian Bargain?

Was this e.g. an attempt to circumvent stricter regulations for and/or possible public outcry against this kind of research in the US?

"President Donald Trump on Monday kept a promise he made last year by signing an executive order that bans federal funding for gain-of-function research in countries like China and Iran, which is believed to be at the heart of the COVID-19 lab leak in Wuhan. ..."

"... This Executive Order:

• Ends any present and all future Federal funding of dangerous gain-of-function research in countries of concern like China and Iran and in foreign nations deemed to have insufficient research oversight. 

..."

Trump keeps promise by signing EO banning federal funding for gain-of-function research | Just The News ""For decades, policies overseeing gain-of-function research on pathogens, toxins, and potential pathogens have lacked adequate enforcement, transparency, and top-down oversight," the White House said in a fact sheet. "Researchers have not acknowledged the legitimate potential for societal harms that this kind of research poses.""

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Achieves Improved Safety and Security of Biological Research

Communist Party of China suggests COVID-19 originated in US in response to Trump allegation. Really!

Nice try by the Communist Party of China!

What is certainly dubious and is still not very well investigated is why and how the US federal government financed gain of function research before Covid-19 at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (a dual use research institute believed to be involved in biological weapons research)

"... In the white paper, released by the official Xinhua news agency, China accused the U.S. of politicising the matter of the origins of COVID-19. It cited a Missouri lawsuit which resulted in a $24 billion ruling against China for hoarding protective medical equipment and covering up the outbreak. ..."

China suggests COVID-19 originated in US in response to Trump allegation | Reuters

Credits: Global Health NOW: Underuse and Overuse Fuels AMR; Funding ‘Megafarms,’ Despite Pollution; and Heavy Caw-petition

Has Covid-19 permanently lowered consumer sentiment in the US?

It has the appearance! Or what else happened in 2020?

Source 

Der deutschen Regierung liegen plausible Indizien vor, dass das Coronavirus aus dem Labor in Wuhan kommt

Die deutschen Schlafmützen sind mal wieder 5 Jahre zu spät!

Deutscher Regierung liegen Indizien vor, dass Coronavirus aus Labor stammt "Eine vom Bundeskanzleramt initiierte Gruppe spezialisierter Forscher traf sich mehrfach beim Bundesnachrichtendienst. Nach ausgiebigen Untersuchungen liegen zahlreiche Indizien für eine Laborherkunft vor."

Elon Musk Says USAID Funded BIOWEAPONS Research In Wuhan--Emily Kopp

Early in 2020 it was already reported that the US federal government funded dubious virus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and that this Institute was a dual use research facility.

Perhaps, SARS-CoV-2/Covid-2 was not just a lab leak, but a live test of a bioweapon that spared children and was very infectious, but not very deadly.

Thanks to the senile, demented and CORRUPT 46th President this was never really investigated, because the Chinese knew too much about the corrupt Biden clan.

Covid-19: CIA says lab leak most likely source of outbreak, but it has low confidence in this determination. Really!

That is about 4 years late! Latest by about mid 2020 it was obvious! The virus was too unusual and too infectious to be a natural one.

However, was it an accident or an intentional release? We are still waiting for answers!

I have blogged here multiple times over the years that the lab leak hypothesis was the most likely one. 

Probably, the 46th President was so corrupt and so compromised he could not reveal anything like it or the criminal Biden clan would have been exposed by China!

"The CIA on Saturday offered a new assessment on the origin of the Covid outbreak, saying the coronavirus is "more likely" to have leaked from a Chinese lab than to have come from animals.

But the intelligence agency cautioned it had "low confidence" in this determination. ..."

Covid-19: CIA says lab leak most likely source of outbreak

Researchers discover COVID-19 Spike Protein Persists in Brain Tissues for Years

Good news!

"... A groundbreaking study has revealed that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can remain in the skull’s bone marrow and brain-protective tissues, such as the meninges, for up to four years after infection. This prolonged presence may lead to chronic brain inflammation, accelerating brain ageing and increasing risks of neurodegenerative diseases and strokes. Importantly, the study highlights that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce the accumulation of spike protein in these regions, providing crucial, though incomplete, protection against long-term neurological effects. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• SARS-CoV-2 spike protein persists in the skull-meninges-brain axis in COVID-19 patients

• Spike protein is sufficient to induce brain pathological and behavioral changes in mice

• Spike protein enhances brain vulnerability and exacerbates neurological damage in mice

• mRNA vaccines reduce, but do not eliminate, the spike burden

Summary

SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with long-lasting neurological symptoms, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Using optical clearing and imaging, we observed the accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in the skull-meninges-brain axis of human COVID-19 patients, persisting long after viral clearance. Further, biomarkers of neurodegeneration were elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid from long COVID patients, and proteomic analysis of human skull, meninges, and brain samples revealed dysregulated inflammatory pathways and neurodegeneration-associated changes.

Similar distribution patterns of the spike protein were observed in SARS-CoV-2-infected mice.

Injection of spike protein alone was sufficient to induce neuroinflammation, proteome changes in the skull-meninges-brain axis, anxiety-like behavior, and exacerbated outcomes in mouse models of stroke and traumatic brain injury. Vaccination reduced but did not eliminate spike protein accumulation after infection in mice. Our findings suggest persistent spike protein at the brain borders may contribute to lasting neurological sequelae of COVID-19."

COVID-19 Spike Protein Persists in Brain Tissues for Years - EMJ

Persistence of spike protein at the skull-meninges-brain axis may contribute to the neurological sequelae of COVID-19 (open access)

Credits: Was steckt hinter Long COVID? Wissenschaftler decken Mechanismus auf

Graphical abstract: