A new study from the NATON consortium has found evidence of persistent activation of the innate immune system in the brains of individuals following a COVID-19 infection that occurred some time ago. Post-mortem tissue samples collected through the National Autopsy Network contributed to the findings published in the prestigious journal Acta Neuropathologica. In the brains of individuals who had contracted COVID-19, fully recovered, and later died from other causes, researchers from Freiburg, Hamburg, and Basel discovered numerous clusters of cells, known as microglial nodules, which indicate chronic immune activation and do not heal completely, resembling a scar. These immunological changes could contribute to the long-term neurological complaints experienced by some patients after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
