Coronavirus symptoms: Scientists discover gene in virus causing schizophrenic symptoms

Much focus of the novel coronavirus has been focussed on health symptoms which include a persistent cough, fever, shortness of breath, loss of taste and smell and gastrointestinal issues. Now new research looks at the worrying effects the virus could have on certain people’s minds. Scientists have discovered a certain gene that replicates itself more rapidly in one’s mind causing schizophrenic symptoms.

Those who have a unique genetic mutation may have less severe Covid-19 symptoms, according to a research team in New York.

But they could also have a higher risk of schizophrenia.

The rs4702 gene allows the coronavirus to replicate more rapidly in the human body, especially in the brain, their experiment suggests.

The warning indicates a worrying long-term effect that could affect one’s mind.

What is rs4702?

The rs4702 gene controlled the production of furin, an enzyme critical for the proper functioning of many proteins.

The gene not only occurred in the brain but also in lung and gut cells, according to Brennand and her colleagues.

Previous studies by Brennand’s team and others found the mutation of the rs4702 gene can lead to reduced neuron growth and altered activity.

These changes were considered common risk factors for schizophrenia, a serious mental disorder that can result in hallucinations, delusions and extreme thinking or behaviour.

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In a study published in Nature Direct, synergistic effects of common schizophrenia risks were investigated.

The study noted: “The mechanisms by which common risk variants of small effect interact to contribute to complex genetic disorders are unclear.

“Our observations highlight the cell-type-specific effects of common variants and demonstrate a synergistic effect between SZ eQTL genes that converge on synaptic function.

“We propose that the links between rare and common variants implicated in psychiatric disease risk constitute a potentially generalizable phenomenon occurring more widely in complex genetic disorders.” 

What other mental health issues have been noted from a COVID-19 infection?

Health experts have noted that severe a COVID-19 infection may cause delirium in the acute stage of illness, followed by the possibility of depression, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over the longer term.

Results from “the first systematic review and meta-analysis of the psychiatric consequences of coronavirus infection” showed that previous coronavirus epidemics were associated with a significant psychiatric burden in both the acute and post-illness stages.

“Our main findings are that signs suggestive of delirium are common in the acute stage of SARS, MERS, and COVID-19; there is evidence of depression, anxiety, fatigue, and post-traumatic stress disorder in the post-illness stage of previous coronavirus epidemics, but there are few data yet on COVID-19,” the investigators write.

A mutation of the gene could suppress the reproduction of the virus, the researchers found, but people carrying this mutation tended to have problems with their neurons that were linked to schizophrenia and other mental disorders, according to some previous studies.

The new discovery added to mounting evidence that “common genetic variation can impact viral infection”, the research team led by Dr Kristen Brennand, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, said in a non-peer-reviewed paper posted on bioRxiv.org on Monday.

In June, French researchers reported in the same journal that a third of patients studied had neurological symptoms, such as inattention, disorientation or poorly organised movements.

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