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Review
. 2021 Feb 27;11(3):305.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci11030305.

COVID-19 and Alzheimer's Disease

Marcello Ciaccio  1   2 , Bruna Lo Sasso  1   2 , Concetta Scazzone  1 , Caterina Maria Gambino  1 , Anna Maria Ciaccio  3 , Giulia Bivona  1 , Tommaso Piccoli  4 , Rosaria Vincenza Giglio  1 , Luisa Agnello  1
Affiliations
Review

COVID-19 and Alzheimer's Disease

Marcello Ciaccio et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a neurotropic virus with a high neuroinvasive potential. Indeed, more than one-third of patients develop neurological symptoms, including confusion, headache, and hypogeusia/ageusia. However, long-term neurological consequences have received little interest compared to respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal manifestations. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the potential SARS-CoV-2 neurological injury that could lead to the development of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's Disease (AD). A mutualistic relationship between AD and COVID-19 seems to exist. On the one hand, COVID-19 patients seem to be more prone to developing AD. On the other hand, AD patients could be more susceptible to severe COVID-19. In this review, we sought to provide an overview on the relationship between AD and COVID-19, focusing on the potential role of biomarkers, which could represent precious tool for early identification of COVID-19 patients at high risk of developing AD.

Keywords: AD; SARS-CoV-2; biomarkers; nervous system; neurodegenerative nisease; neuroinflammation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The complex relationship between Alzheimer’s Disease and SARS-CoV-2 infection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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