Vaccine against COVID-19 found to protect against infection and brain damage caused by virus

Respiratory pathology is the main impact of COVID-19, but many patients also have significant neurological symptoms such as smell loss (loss of smell), headache, fatigue, cognitive impairment, epilepsy, ataxia and encephalopathy. is showing.

However, this impact of coronaviruses on the nervous system has not been characterized in detail, and it is unclear whether vaccines developed against COVID-19 prevent the central spread of SARS-CoV-2. nervous system give protection against brain injury.

now, mouse model A multidisciplinary team of Spanish researchers led by Dr. Javier Villadiego and Dr. Juan José Toledo Alar (IBiS, CIBERNED and the Department of Medical Physiology and Biophysics of the Faculty of Medicine of Seville), susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection and Juan García-Arriaza (Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at CNB-CSIC, CIBERINFEC and PTI Global Health at CSIC), in collaboration with other groups at the University of Seville and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), to demonstrate its capabilities. I’m here. infect different areas of SARS-CoV-2 brain How CNB-CSIC causes brain damage vaccination It completely prevents brain infections.

These findings are Nature Neuroscience.

Researchers are studying the evolution of viral infections in different brain regions, viral replication It occurs primarily in neurons and leads to neuropathological changes such as neuronal loss, glial activation and vascular damage. “We have performed very detailed anatomic pathological and molecular studies on virus-infected brain regions and cell types. It deserves attention,” explains Javier Villadiego.

Once the pattern of intracerebral infection with SARS-CoV-2 was established, researchers evaluated the efficacy of a vaccine against COVID-19 developed at CNB-CSIC. To do this, they injected mice with one or two doses of the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine, based on the modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) expressing the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2. was immunized and analyzed for its capacity. Protects against infections and damage to the brain.

“The results obtained are striking, and even a single dose of the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine completely prevented SARS-CoV-2 infection in all studied brain regions and associated brain damage. This demonstrates the excellent efficacy and immunogenicity of vaccines that induce bactericidal immunity in the brain,” says Juan García Arriaza.

These results reinforce previous data on the immunogenicity and efficacy of MVA-CoV2-S vaccines in various animal models.

“We have previously demonstrated in a series of publications that the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine developed at CNB-CSIC elicits a strong immune response of antibodies that bind the S protein in three animal models (mouse, hamster and macaque). Mariano Esteban, a CNB-CSIC researcher involved in the study, said:

This result has important long-term implications for understanding the infectious diseases caused by SARS-CoV-2. “Data from SARS-CoV-2 infection Compatible with neurological pathology observed in patients with COVID-19. ”

“Our study is the first study of a 100% effective vaccine. brain injury The results obtained with SARS-CoV-2 in susceptible mice strongly suggest that the vaccine can prevent the persistent COVID-19 observed in some individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2.” says Juan José Toledo-Aral.

“The data provided in this study demonstrate the complete inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication in the brain mediated by the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine as well as its immunogenicity and efficacy against different immunogenicity. It is provided along with previous studies published by the group and collaborators of SARS-CoV-2 variants using such vaccines or similar prototypes to assess safety and immunogenicity. It will support Phase I clinical trials,” emphasized the study authors.