Investigating the Invitro Pro-inflammatory Effects of Astrocyte-Derived Exosomes from Patients with a History of COVID-19 and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) and COVID-19 infections are both linked to heightened inflammatory responses within the central nervous system, which leads to cell death, increased release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, deregulation of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and other harmful effects. The compounded impacts of inflammation phenotypes from COVID-19 and mild TBIs have not been previously researched. Covid and TBI have both been found to lead to similar immune responses that increase inflammation in the brain by inflammatory pathways potentially mediated through exosomes. This study will evaluate if a history of TBI and COVID-19 infection in a patient’s isolated exosomes from astrocytes induces higher inflammation responses in cultured-rat-astrocytes, compared to a patient with either TBI history only, COVID-19 infection only, or a healthy control. Significantly increased cellular area and fluorescence from COVID-19 and m TBI group demonstrate heightened inflammation phenotype compared to any other group. Currently, data is still being quantified, however, the qualitative analyses support these claims. Implications of this novel research establish a mechanism for neuroinflammation increase which can be used for pharmaceuticals and therapies targeting inflammation reduction.