Expression of IL-33 and its receptor ST2 in human adipose tissue is predominantly detectable in endothelial cells and increased by severe obesity indicating an autocrine action. Thus, the adipose tissue microvasculature could participate in obesity-associated inflammation and related complications via IL-33/ST2.

No abstract

Olfactory dysfunction is reported frequently in patients with coronavirus disease 2019. However, an effective treatment for this dysfunction is unknown. The present study evaluated carbamazepine as a treatment option for olfactory dysfunction based on its use in cases of neuralgia, especially of the V cranial nerve. The study included 10 patients with coronavirus disease with olfactory complaints who were part of a cohort of 172 coronavirus disease patients monitored for late neurological manifestations. Carbamazepine was administered for 11 weeks. The adverse effects reported were drowsiness (9/10) and dizziness (2/10); 9 of the 10 patients reported improved olfactory function after carbamazepine treatment. While the role of carbamazepine in the control of post-coronavirus disease olfactory dysfunction could not be confirmed in this study, the satisfactory response observed in most patients in this series suggests that further studies are warranted.

COVID-19 pandemic affected the global population in an unprecedented scale, with long-term consequences of SARS CoV-2 infection now emerging as a serious concern. Cognitive dysfunction is often reported in post-COVID patients, but its underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Here we demonstrated that brain exposure to SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein through its infusion into the lateral ventricle of adult mice induced late cognitive impairment, hippocampal synapse loss, and microglial engulfment of presynaptic terminals. Additionally, TLR4 blockage prevented Sassociated detrimental effects on memory in mice and TLR4 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs10759931 was associated with late cognitive outcome in mild COVID-19-recovered patients. Collectively, these findings indicate that S protein directly impacts the brain and identify TLR4 as a key target to prevent cognitive dysfunction. To our knowledge, this is the first animal model that recapitulates postCOVID cognitive impairment, opening new avenues for developing new strategies to prevent or treat the neurological outcomes of COVID-19.