Recent research has already revealed that patients who have died after a severe SARS-CoV-2 infection exhibited brain inflammation. Additionally, there is a growing body of research focused on patients with Long COVID who experience prolonged neurological symptoms such as fatigue and cognitive impairments. These symptoms significantly impact their daily lives.
In December 2019, a respiratory disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, was reported for the first time. The centre of the outbreak was Wuhan, China. Since then, the virus has spread rapidly across the world and not long after that, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic in March 2020.
Would you like to know more about our scientific progress in 2021?
We've put it all together in the BPRC Annual Scientific Report. You will find the scientific highlights in 2021, the financial results and the facts & figures.
Within the Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC) there is a profound interest in the development of animal-free innovations. We developed a large variety of bioassays, which also turned out useful for research into multiple sclerosis involving experimental animals.
COVID-19 has many faces. While one person just has a runny nose, the other gets really sick. Also, some suffer from the long-term consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection, such as persistent fatigue and shortness of breath. Even after mild infection.
Adenoviruses are the causative agents of the common cold, and are relatively harmless. They are also widely used as vectors for the production of vaccines, amongst which vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.
Researchers at the University of Groningen collaborating with researchers of the alternatives unit of BPRC, have characterized a specific brain cell type in different animal species in great detail. They have focused on microglia. These cells are often referred to as macrophages of the brain and have many important functions, both in the healthy brain as well as during neurological diseases.
