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Brain magnetic resonance (MR) images taken before and after patients had acute COVID-19 have revealed substantial gray matter reduction and tissue damage (NEJM JW Gen Med Jun 1 2022 and Nature 2022; 604:697). In this new study, investigators studied the levels of mRNA produced by different genes in the frontal cortex (i.e., gene expression patterns) using brain autopsy specimens.
The pattern in young people (age, ≤39) with severe, PCR-positive COVID-19 was like the pattern seen in uninfected older people (age, ≥71) — and different from the pattern seen in young people who received intensive care but did not have COVID-19. The genes expressed in the COVID-19 patients revealed a cellular response to DNA damage, inflammation, mitochondrial dysf…