Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who had no history of dementia were found to have raised levels of brain injury biomarkers, noted an observational study published in Alzheimer′s & Dementia.

Investigators evaluated the data obtained from 251 hospitalized COVID-19 patients without a history of dementia. They analyzed seven serum markers of neurodegeneration, including total tau (t-tau), phosphorylated tau181 (p-tau181), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament light (NfL), ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1), amyloid beta 40, and amyloid beta 42.

Blood levels of t-tau, p-tau181, GFAP, and NfL were noted to be significantly raised in patients with COVID-19 with encephalopathy and among those who died in the hospital.

NfL, GFAP, and UCHL1 levels were as high or higher in the short term among hospitalized patients without a history of dementia as compared to those among Alzheimer′s patients who never had COVID. NfL, a marker of axonal injury, was found to be 179% higher in COVID-19 patients compared to Alzheimer′s patients (73.2 vs. 26.2 pg/ml). GFAP, a marker of glial or astrocytic injury, was 65% higher (443.5 vs. 275.1 pg/ml), while UCHL1 was found to be 13% higher (43 vs. 38.1 pg/ml)… (Medpage Today)