Parkinson's Disease After COVID-19: An Overview

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), quickly spread around the world causing the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 were mainly described as respiratory. However, it soon became evident that the viral infection has a heterogeneous phenotype and possesses a wide spectrum of presentation including neurological manifestations. During the pandemic, growing evidence demonstrated the acute worsening of Parkinson’s disease (PD) symptoms as well as long-term sequelae in infected PD patients. Additionally, up to date several cases of new-onset parkinsonism or PD following SARS-CoV-2 infection have been described in literature. This indicated a possible etiological and pathophysiological connection between PD and COVID-19. This systematic review aims to discuss the current available evidence regarding the direct and indirect effects of SARS-CoV-2 on PD patients, as well as the newly diagnosed PD cases post-COVID-19 infection. Moreover, the thesis will discuss the potential neuroinvasion routes and the molecular mechanisms by which the virus could promote the development of PD.