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Michael BD, Dunai C, Needham EJ, Tharmaratnam K, Williams R, Huang Y, Boardman SA, Clark JJ, Sharma P, Subramaniam K, Wood GK, Collie C, Digby R, Ren A, Norton E, Leibowitz M, Ebrahimi S, Fower A, Fox H, Tato E, Ellul MA, Sunderland G, Held M, Hetherington C, Egbe FN, Palmos A, Stirrups K, Grundmann A, Chiollaz AC, Sanchez JC, Stewart JP, Griffiths M, Solomon T, Breen G, Coles AJ, Kingston N, Bradley JR, Chinnery PF, Cavanagh J, Irani SR, Vincent A, Baillie JK, Openshaw PJ, Semple MG, Taams LS, Menon DK. Para-infectious brain injury in COVID-19 persists at follow-up despite attenuated cytokine and autoantibody responses. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8487. [PMID: 38135686 PMCID: PMC10746705 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42320-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
To understand neurological complications of COVID-19 better both acutely and for recovery, we measured markers of brain injury, inflammatory mediators, and autoantibodies in 203 hospitalised participants; 111 with acute sera (1-11 days post-admission) and 92 convalescent sera (56 with COVID-19-associated neurological diagnoses). Here we show that compared to 60 uninfected controls, tTau, GFAP, NfL, and UCH-L1 are increased with COVID-19 infection at acute timepoints and NfL and GFAP are significantly higher in participants with neurological complications. Inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, HGF, M-CSF, CCL2, and IL-1RA) are associated with both altered consciousness and markers of brain injury. Autoantibodies are more common in COVID-19 than controls and some (including against MYL7, UCH-L1, and GRIN3B) are more frequent with altered consciousness. Additionally, convalescent participants with neurological complications show elevated GFAP and NfL, unrelated to attenuated systemic inflammatory mediators and to autoantibody responses. Overall, neurological complications of COVID-19 are associated with evidence of neuroglial injury in both acute and late disease and these correlate with dysregulated innate and adaptive immune responses acutely.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benedict D Michael
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK.
- NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK.
- The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, L9 7BB, UK.
| | - Cordelia Dunai
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Edward J Needham
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Kukatharmini Tharmaratnam
- Health Data Science, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3GF, UK
| | - Robyn Williams
- Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
- Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Yun Huang
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Sarah A Boardman
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Jordan J Clark
- University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, NY, 10029, USA
- Center for Vaccine Research and Pandemic Preparedness (C-VARPP), Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Parul Sharma
- Infection Biology & Microbiomes, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L3 5RF, UK
| | - Krishanthi Subramaniam
- Infection Biology & Microbiomes, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L3 5RF, UK
| | - Greta K Wood
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Ceryce Collie
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Richard Digby
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Alexander Ren
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Emma Norton
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Maya Leibowitz
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Soraya Ebrahimi
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Andrew Fower
- Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Hannah Fox
- Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Esteban Tato
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
- NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Mark A Ellul
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, L9 7BB, UK
| | - Geraint Sunderland
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Marie Held
- Centre for Cell Imaging, Liverpool Shared Research Facilities, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZB, UK
| | - Claire Hetherington
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Franklyn N Egbe
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Alish Palmos
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
- NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Kathy Stirrups
- NIHR BioResource, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
- Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Alexander Grundmann
- Clinical Neurosciences, Clinical and Experimental Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BF, UK
- Department of Neurology, Wessex Neurological Centre, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK
| | - Anne-Cecile Chiollaz
- Département de médecine interne des spécialités (DEMED), University of Geneva, Geneva, CH-1211, Switzerland
| | - Jean-Charles Sanchez
- Département de médecine interne des spécialités (DEMED), University of Geneva, Geneva, CH-1211, Switzerland
| | - James P Stewart
- Infection Biology & Microbiomes, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L3 5RF, UK
| | - Michael Griffiths
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Tom Solomon
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, L9 7BB, UK
- The Pandemic Institute, Liverpool, L7 3FA, UK
| | - Gerome Breen
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
- NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Alasdair J Coles
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Nathalie Kingston
- NIHR BioResource, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
- University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - John R Bradley
- NIHR BioResource, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
- Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Patrick F Chinnery
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
- NIHR BioResource, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Jonathan Cavanagh
- Centre for Immunology, School of Infection & Immunity, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8TA, UK
| | - Sarosh R Irani
- Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
- Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Angela Vincent
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - J Kenneth Baillie
- Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH25 9RG, UK
- Intensive Care Unit, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH10 5HF, UK
| | - Peter J Openshaw
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2BX, UK
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, W2 1NY, UK
| | - Malcolm G Semple
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- Respiratory Unit, Alder Hey Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, L14 5AB, UK
| | - Leonie S Taams
- Centre for Inflammation Biology and Cancer Immunology, King's College London, London, SE1 9RT, UK
| | - David K Menon
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
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