Publications by authors named "Mariel Lepra"
Article Synopsis
- After recovering from acute COVID-19, around 5% of individuals experience prolonged depressive symptoms and cognitive impairments known as COVID-DC, with a focus on the role of astrogliosis in this condition.
- A study was conducted comparing 21 COVID-DC patients and 21 healthy controls, measuring specific indicators of astrogliosis and cognitive/depressive symptoms using PET scans and standardized tests.
- Results indicated higher levels of MAO-B density in key brain areas for COVID-DC patients compared to controls, suggesting potential protective effects of astrogliosis, especially noted since the emergence of the omicron variant.
Importance: Persistent depressive symptoms, often accompanied by cognitive symptoms, commonly occur after COVID-19 illness (hereinafter termed COVID-DC, DC for depressive and/or cognitive symptoms). In patients with COVID-DC, gliosis, an inflammatory change, was suspected, but measurements of gliosis had not been studied in the brain for this condition.
Objective: To determine whether translocator protein total distribution volume (TSPO VT), a marker of gliosis that is quantifiable with positron emission tomography (PET), is elevated in the dorsal putamen, ventral striatum, prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and hippocampus of persons with COVID-DC.