Autoimmunity and SARS‐CoV‐2 infection: Unraveling the link in neurological disorders

According to the World Health Organization, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has already infected more than 400 million people and caused over 5 million deaths globally. The infection is associated with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations, ranging from no signs of illness to severe pathological complications that go beyond the typical respiratory symptoms. On this note, new‐onset neurological and neuropsychiatric syndromes have been increasingly reported in a large fraction of COVID‐19 patients, thus potentially representing a significant public health threat. Although the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain elusive, a growing body of evidence suggests that SARS‐CoV‐2 infection may trigger an autoimmune response, which could potentially contribute to the establishment and/or exacerbation of neurological disorders in COVID‐19 patients. Shedding light on this aspect is urgently needed for the development of effective therapeutic intervention. This review highlights the current knowledge of the immune responses occurring in Neuro‐COVID patients and discusses potential immune‐mediated mechanisms by which SARS‐CoV‐2 infection may trigger neurological complications.