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World J Psychiatry. Jul 19, 2022; 12(7): 874-883
Published online Jul 19, 2022. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v12.i7.874
SARS-CoV-2 consequences for mental health: Neuroinflammatory pathways linking COVID-19 to anxiety and depression
Anna Julie de Mello, Morgana Moretti, Ana Lúcia S Rodrigues
Anna Julie de Mello, Morgana Moretti, Ana Lúcia S Rodrigues, Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88040-200, Brazil
Author contributions: Rodrigues ALS, Moretti M and de Mello AJ conceptualized the manuscript; de Mello AJ wrote the manuscript draft and prepared the figure; Rodrigues ALS and Moretti M reviewed and edited the final manuscript.
Supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, No. 312215/2021-5.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ana Lúcia S Rodrigues, PhD, Full Professor, Senior Scientist, Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Center of Biological Sciences, Florianópolis 88040-200, Brazil. alsrodri@gmail.com
Received: January 20, 2022
Peer-review started: January 20, 2022
First decision: April 18, 2022
Revised: May 3, 2022
Accepted: June 16, 2022
Article in press: June 16, 2022
Published online: July 19, 2022
Processing time: 179 Days and 12.6 Hours
Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been linked to an increased prevalence of mental health disorders, particularly anxiety and depression. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused stress in people worldwide due to several factors, including fear of infection; social isolation; difficulty in adapting to new routines; lack of coping methods; high exposure to social media, misinformation, and fake reports; economic impact of the measures implemented to slow the contagion and concerns regarding the disease pathogenesis. COVID-19 patients have elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α, and other inflammation-related factors. Furthermore, invasion of the central nervous system by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may potentially contribute to neuroinflammatory alterations in infected individuals. Neuroinflammation, a consequence of psychological stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic, may also play a role in the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms in the general population. Considering that neuroinflammation plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of depression and anxiety, this study investigated the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on mental health and focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the neuroinflammatory pathways.

Keywords: Anxiety disorders; COVID-19 pandemic; Depression; Mental health; Neuroinflammation; Stress

Core Tip: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has impacted the mental health of the population worldwide. This review summarizes the evidence of the role of neuroinflammation, either as a result of chronic stress caused by the pandemic or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, in the development of anxiety and depressive disorders.