Epistemology

Psychiatry

Internal medicine

Philosophy

Pathology

Immunology

Hyposmia

Coronavirus

Pneumonia

Disease

Ataxia

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Central nervous system

Peripheral nervous system

Nervous system

Medicine

Mechanism (biology)

Frontiers in Immunology

In late December 2019, multiple atypical pneumonia cases resulted in severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by a pathogen identified as a novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The most common coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms are pneumonia, fever, dry cough, and fatigue. However, some neurological complications following SARS-CoV-2 infection include confusion, cerebrovascular diseases, ataxia, hypogeusia, hyposmia, neuralgia, and seizures. Indeed, a growing literature demonstrates that neurotropism is a common feature of coronaviruses; therefore, the infection mechanisms already described in other coronaviruses may also be applicable for SARS-CoV-2. Understanding the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms in the nervous system infection and the neurological involvement is essential to assess possible long-term neurological alteration of COVID-19. Here, we provide an overview of associated literature regarding possible routes of COVID-19 neuroinvasion, such as the trans-synapse-connected route in the olfactory pathway and peripheral nerve terminals and its neurological implications in the central nervous system.

Infection Mechanism of SARS-COV-2 and Its Implication on the Nervous System