Structural brain changes in post-COVID condition and its relationship with cognitive impairment

作者：Laura Pacheco-Jaime, Carla Garcia-Vicente, Mar Ariza, Neus Cano, Maite Garolera, Lourdes Carreras-Vidal, Ignacio Roura, Clara Capdevila-Lacasa, Javier Oltra, Jèssica Pardo, Cristina Martín‐Barceló, Anna Campabadal, Roser Sala‐Llonch, Núria Bargalló, Cristian Barruè, Javier Bejar, Claudio U Cortés, Carme Junqué, Bàrbara Segura, NAUTILUS-Project Collaborative Group, Vanesa Arauzo, Jose A. Bernia, Marta Balague-Marmaña, Berta Valles-Pauls, Jesús Caballero, Ester Gonzalez-Aguado, Carme Tayó-Juli, Eva Forcadell-Ferreres, Silvia Reverte-Vilarroya, Susanna Forné, Anna Bartes-Plans, Jordina Muñoz-Padros, José A. Muñoz-Moreno, Anna Prats-Paris, Inmaculada Rico, Núria Sabé, Marta Almería, Laura Casas, María José Ciudad, Anna Ferré, Tamar Garzon, Manuela Lozano, Marta Cullell, Sonia Vega, Sílvia Alsina, Maria J. Maldonado-Belmonte, Susana Vazquez-Rivera, Eva Baillés, Sandra Sanz Navarro, Ayoze González Hernández, Yaiza Molina, Victòria Olivé, Sílvia Cañizares · 发表于：Brain Communications · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1093/braincomms/fcaf070 · 被引用次数：18 · 研究领域：Long-Term Effects of COVID-19、Intensive Care Unit Cognitive Disorders、Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques

It has been estimated that ∼4% of individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 will be diagnosed with post-COVID condition. Previous studies have evidenced the presence of cognitive dysfunction and structural brain changes in infected individuals; however, the relationship between structural changes and cognitive alterations in post-COVID condition is still not clear. Consequently, the aim of this work is to study structural brain alterations in post-COVID condition patients after almost 2 years of infection and their likely relationship with patients' cognitive impairment. Additionally, the association with blood biomarkers and clinical variables was also explored. One hundred and twenty-eight individuals with post-COVID condition and 37 non-infected healthy controls from the Nautilus Project (ClinicalTrials.gov IDs: NCT05307549 and NCT05307575) underwent structural brain magnetic resonance imaging and a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. A subsample of 66 post-COVID participants also underwent blood extraction to obtain levels of blood biomarkers. Cortical thickness and subcortical volumes were obtained and analysed using FreeSurfer (v7.1). FMRIB Software Library software (v6.0.4) was used to perform grey matter voxel-based analysis and to study microstructural white matter integrity. Patients with post-COVID performed significantly worse in working and verbal memory, processing speed, verbal fluency and executive functions, compared to healthy controls. Moreover, patient...