COVAMINF – The Working Group on COVID, Amyloid and Inflammation

CovAmInf is an international workgroup funded by the EU Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease research (JPND) with the purpose of studying infection with the novel coronavirus SARS-COV-2 in context together with amyloid diseases such as Alzheimer’s, and also in context with inflammation, particularly in relation to chronic inflammation as driven by environmental pollution or as part of conditions such as obesity, diabetes, or autoimmune disease.

The CovAmInf workgroup exists not only to discuss science but to shape science priorities and public policy, therefore opinions and evidence from both inside and outside the laboratory and clinic are sought and valued.

Headline findings at close of funding period 2024:

General-interest highlights of the findings of the COVAMINF workgroup are:

  • Acute SARS-CoV-2 infection increases subsequent lifetime risk of neurodegenerative disease including specifically Alzheimer’s disease, however this risk increment exists in context with risk increments of comparable magnitude from other infectious diseases and from environment/lifestyle harms such as air pollution and stress.
  • Chronic SARS-CoV-2 infection and post-infection illnesses (“PASC”) are complex problems taking many forms, as expected given the systemic character of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Coordinated interdisciplinary work is necessary for both treatment and research.

The summarised conclusions of the workgroup are available as a peer-reviewed article in Lancet Neurology: SARS-CoV-2 infection as a cause of neurodegeneration – The Lancet Neurology , formal reasoning to support the conclusions was made according to the Bradford Hill criteria and is available in the supplementary material associated to the article.

News on Covid research in Luxembourg:

The COVAMINF workgroup was coordinated at the university of Luxembourg, for more information about SARS-CoV-2 research in Luxembourg see: Research on COVID-19: A story that keeps unfolding (uni.lu)

Covid, Amyloid and Inflammation: why these three together?

Bidirectional feedbacks are either known, or else suggested by recent evidence, for each pair of entities out of inflammation, amyloid and SARS-COV-2.

Neuroinflammation accompanies most forms of cerebral amyloid disease, and may precede other symptoms. Sufferers from amyloid disease have highly elevated rates of fatality from SARS-COV-2, and sufferers from SARS-COV-2 infection are prone to suffer cerebral inflammation amongst other symptoms. CC licenced images: Covid virus image by Alexey Solodovnikov and Valeria Arkhipova. Skull by Steaphan Greene.

Can I join the discussion?

Please! The purpose of the COVAMINF workgroup is to build scientific and policy understanding both from and for the world.