Research looking at the pathophysiology behind coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, is ongoing. A team of researchers from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, USA, present results linking oxidative stress and the activation of a biochemical pathway associated with Alzheimer’s disease to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
“In this study, we propose a potential mechanism that may contribute to systemic organ failure caused by SARS-CoV-2: defective Ca2+ regulation and its downstream signaling,” wrote the researchers. “Of particular interest is that leaky RyR2 channels in the brain were associated with activation of neuropathological pathways that are also found in the brains of Alzheimer’s Disease patients.”
