The increased size of, and lesser blood supply to, a key brain structure in patients with Long COVID tracks with known blood markers of Alzheimer’s disease and greater levels of dementia, a new study finds.
Led by NYU Langone Health researchers, the study concerns the choroid plexus (CP), a network of blood vessels lined by cells that produce cerebrospinal fluid, which cushions the brain and forms a protective barrier between the fluid and the bloodstream. The CP regulates immune system responses (inflammation) and waste clearance in the brain. Past studies show that the COVID-19 virus can damage the cells lining CP blood vessels.
Published online Feb. 10 in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the new work found that patients reporting Long COVID had a 10% larger CP than those who had fully recovered from an initial…