Exploring Brain Damages After COVID-19 Infection (BRAINCOV)

Although direct evidence is currently lacking, the high identity between SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 suggests, that the latter viral strain could also infect the Central Nervous System (CNS). Indeed, some cases of SARS-COV2 encephalitis begin to be described and CNS damages are increasingly highlighted in the literature, but still not objectified by imaging and do not allow to explain the entire clinical patterns. We hypothesise that these CNS damages are not always objectified by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) but could be indirectly observed by a physiological dysfunction of neural conduction in the brainstem. We will explore brainstem disruption through an electrophysiological approach.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: SARS-CoV 2
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEP); Procedure: Blink and Masseter Inhibitory Reflex

Detailed Description

Clinical and preclinical data from studies with other coronaviruses suggest an evident neurotropism, which may result in more complex clinical scenarios. Can the SARS-CoV-2 enter the Central Nervous System (CNS) and infect neural cells ? And if yes, how the CNS damage contributes to pathophysiology of the COVID-19, to its signs, symptoms and progression as well as to its sequelae. It has been demonstrated that coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV do not limit their presence to the respiratory tract and frequently invade the CNS. The intranasal administration of SARS-CoV-1 or MERS-COV resulted in the rapid invasion of viral particles into the brain of mice, possibly through the olfactory bulb via trans-synaptic route. The brainstem, which hosts the respiratory neuronal circuit in the medulla, was severely infected with both types of viruses, which may contribute to degradation and failure of respiratory centres.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 38
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Bordeaux, France, 33 076
    • CHU de Bordeaux

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria :

• Age ≥ 18 years.
• Hospitalized patient suffering from a positive COVID 19 diagnosed by Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or chest computed tomography scan (CTscan) with specific lesions

Exclusion Criteria :

• History of neurological damage interfering with auditory evoked potentials (PEA) and Electromyography (EMG) reflexes of the brainstem (stroke of the brainstem, acoustic neuroma, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, facial diplegia, damage to nerves V or VII, etc.)
• Impaired alertness
• Sedative treatments or treatments that disturb nerve conduction.
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding
• Individuals under legal protection or unable to express personally their consent

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Electrophysiological procedure; Brainstem reflexes and neural conduction will be explored using Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEP) and blink and Masseter Inhibitory Reflex (MIR) in hospitalised patients with COVID infection

Procedure: Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEP); Record of electrophysiological responses (Auditory Evoked Potentials or AEP) during auditory stimulations with an electroencephalogram (EEG).; Procedure: Blink and Masseter Inhibitory Reflex; Electrophysiological exploration while stimulating trigeminal nerve to record 1) motor response induced (muscle contraction delay (Blink)) of the facial nerve, or 2) the contraction inhibition of masseters (Masseter Inhibitory Reflex (MIR)).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Latency of electrophysiological response	Latencies of electrophysiological responses with Auditory Evoked Potentials	Inclusion (T0)
Delay of Muscle contraction	Delay of Muscle contraction (Blink reflex)	Inclusion (T0)
Delay of silent period	Delay of silent period while the patient is asked to tighten the jaws (Masseter Inhibitory Reflex)	Inclusion (T0)
Duration of silent period	Duration of silent period while the patient is asked to tighten the jaws (Masseter Inhibitory Reflex)	Inclusion (T0)
Inhibition rate	Inhibition rate while the patient is asked to tighten the jaws (Masseter Inhibitory Reflex)	Inclusion (T0)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital, Bordeaux
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Bertrand Glize, bertrand.glize@chu-bordeaux.fr

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 19, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 10, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): March 10, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 8, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 26, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): May 28, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 1, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 29, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: COVID-19; Electrophysiology; Brainstem
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Respiratory Tract Infections; Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; COVID-19; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Physiological Phenomena; Evoked Potentials; Cortical Excitability; Electrophysiological Phenomena; Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; Ocular Physiological Phenomena; Reflex; Vestibulocochlear Physiological Phenomena; Evoked Potentials, Auditory; Blinking
• Other Study ID Numbers: CHUBX 2020/20; 2020-A01268-31 (Other Identifier: ANSM)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No