1. Neurological Symptoms of COVID-19: The Zonulin Hypothesis
- Author
-
Sílvia Llorens, Eduardo Nava, Mónica Muñoz-López, Álvaro Sánchez-Larsen, and Tomás Segura
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Nervous system ,tight junctions ,Gastrointestinal Diseases ,Neurotropism ,Gut–brain axis ,Immunology ,Anosmia ,Haematogenous route ,Neurological symptoms ,neurological symptoms ,Blood–brain barrier ,Gastrointestinal symptoms ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,haematogenous route ,Hypothesis and Theory ,zonulin ,medicine ,Humans ,Immunology and Allergy ,Protein Precursors ,Tight junctions ,Blood-brain barrier ,Toll-like receptor4 ,Haptoglobins ,business.industry ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Zonulin ,Brain ,COVID-19 ,Complement System Proteins ,blood-brain barrier ,RC581-607 ,Toll-Like Receptor 4 ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,gastrointestinal symptoms ,Alternative complement pathway ,TLR4 ,medicine.symptom ,Nervous System Diseases ,Immunologic diseases. Allergy ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
The irruption of SARS-CoV-2 during 2020 has been of pandemic proportions due to its rapid spread and virulence. COVID-19 patients experience respiratory, digestive and neurological symptoms. Distinctive symptom as anosmia, suggests a potential neurotropism of this virus. Amongst the several pathways of entry to the nervous system, we propose an alternative pathway from the infection of the gut, involving Toll like receptor 4 (TLR4), zonulin, protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) and zonulin brain receptor. Possible use of zonulin antagonists could be investigated to attenuate neurological manifestations caused by SARS-CoV-19 infection
- Published
- 2021