Emerging Role of Kinin B1 Receptor in Persistent Neuroinflammation and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Mice Following Recovery from SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Evidence suggests that patients with long COVID can experience neuropsychiatric, neurologic, and cognitive symptoms. However, these clinical data are mostly associational studies complicated by confounding variables, thus the mechanisms responsible for persistent symptoms unknown. Here we establish an animal model of long-lasting effects on brain eliciting mild disease in K18-hACE2 mice. Male female mice were infected 4 × 103 TCID50 SARS-CoV-2 and, following recovery from acute infection, tested open field, zero maze, Y starting 30 days post infection. Following showed characteristic lung fibrosis associated which correlates increased expression pro-inflammatory kinin B1 receptor (B1R). These also had elevated B1R inflammatory markers exhibited behavioral alterations such as anxiety attenuated exploratory behavior. Our demonstrate exhibit infection tissue, revealing potential using this high sensitivity to investigate contributing at-risk populations. results further suggest may drive response