![]() ![]() Many brain structures exhibited a high expression of ACE2 including the olfactory bulb, a region that has been associated with anosmia (loss of smell sense), a recurrent symptom also reported by patients with COVID-19 ( Chen et al., 2021). A recent study ( Chen et al., 2021) showed that ACE2, the target for SARS-CoV-2 entrance, could be identified in different components of CNS such as neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. These case reports raise questions regarding the SARS-CoV-2 neurotropism, and how it contributes to the postinfection complications in the CNS ( Netland et al., 2008 Huang et al., 2020 Zhang, 2020). However, recent evidences showed that beyond the respiratory system infection, SARS-CoV-2 could also produce a severe syndrome with its collection of symptoms: severe pneumonia, important damage in the cardiovascular system, including thrombosis, persistent anosmia, and in some quite often neurologic symptoms (encephalitis, disturbed consciousness, and cerebrovascular accident Duong et al., 2020 Ellul et al., 2020 Mao et al., 2020 Rothan and Byrareddy, 2020 Wu and McGoogan, 2020 Xu et al., 2020).Ī great number of patients with COVID-19 have described neurologic complications associated with the viral infection ( Helms et al., 2020 Mao et al., 2020). Moreover, unlike SARS-CoV, the invasive mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 seems to involve preactivation by furin, a proprotein convertase that reduces the dependence of the novel coronavirus on recruiting proteases of the target cells for its successful entry ( Shang et al., 2020).Įarly epidemiological studies suggested that most patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 developed none or mild symptoms, similar to common flu, caused by influenza viruses, such as fever, cough, fatigue, rhinorrhea, sneezing, and sore throat. This interaction with ACE2 seems to be primed by a proteolytic cleavage of the spike (S) protein by the transmembrane protease serine (TMPRSS2), responsible for the virus interaction with its target receptor ( Hoffmann et al., 2020 Ou et al., 2020). Similar to its “older cousin,” spike proteins S1 and S2 of the SARS-CoV-2 use the host angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as a receptor ( Walls et al., 2020) to initiate its entrance into the cell. In a short period, COVID-19 cases have rapidly spread worldwide causing frightful rates of morbidity and mortality ( Jain et al., 2020) and declared as a global public health threat by the World Health Organization in March 2020 ( World Health Organization, 2020).īecause of efforts made by different groups of scientists, the etiologic agent of this new pandemic was characterized as a β coronavirus named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is closely related to its previous relative SARS-CoV, responsible for the SARS outbreak in China during the early 2000s ( Ksiazek et al., 2003). The novel strain of coronavirus responsible for the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, a province in China ( Rothan and Byrareddy, 2020). ![]() In the present review, we suggest that the zebrafish model can be advantageous to investigate the neurologic features of COVID-19.ĬOVID-19 and Society: The Urgent Need of a Rapid and Fast Animal Model Besides, its external embryonic development, high availability of eggs, and fast development allows easy genetic manipulation and fast replications. In this way, the zebrafish ( Danio rerio) organism model represents an attractive tool in the field of neuroscience, showing economic and logistic advantages besides genetic and physiologic similarities with mammalian, including the brain structure and functions. Preclinical models are valuable tools for describing and testing new possible treatments for neurologic disorders. Neurologic symptoms associated with COVID-19 have been reported however, the precise mechanism and possible long-lasting effects remain poorly investigated. Evidence has suggested SARS-CoV-2-induced anosmia can be the result of neurodegeneration of the olfactory pathway. In a cohort of patients, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), beyond the classical respiratory manifestations, induces anosmia. The Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) presents a variability of clinical symptoms, ranging from asymptomatic to severe respiratory and systemic conditions. ![]()
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