ReviewMicroorganisms2022
Impaired VEGF-A-Mediated Neurovascular Crosstalk Induced by SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein: A Potential Hypothesis Explaining Long COVID-19 Symptoms and COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects?
Review in Microorganisms, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- VEGF-A in COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analytical approach to its prognostic value.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Persistent CD4Cellular immunology · 2026Article
- Posterior Circulation Ischemic Stroke Occurring After ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222 Vaccination Without Evidence of Vaccine-Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia: A Case Report and Focused Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Integrated Network Toxicology and Metabolomics Elucidate Mechanisms of Carbosulfan-Induced Respiratory Toxicity in Rats.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Transcriptomic profiling of endothelial progenitor cells in post-COVID-19 patients: Insights at 3 and 6-month post-infection.iScience · 2025Article
- Article
- Review
- Vascular Pathogenesis in Acute and Long COVID: Current Insights and Therapeutic Outlook.Seminars in thrombosis and hemostasis · 2025Review
- Altered Circulating Cytokine Profile Among mRNA-Vaccinated Young Adults: A Year-Long Follow-Up Study.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2025Article
- Proteomic analysis of lung responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in aged non-human primates: clinical and research relevance.GeroScience · 2024Article
- Review
- Targeting NRP1 axis as a strategy for treating energy metabolism impairment induced by SARS-CoV-2 spike.Science China. Life sciences · 2024Article
- Neurological sequelae of long COVID: a comprehensive review of diagnostic imaging, underlying mechanisms, and potential therapeutics.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Review
- Vascular endothelial growth factor A: friend or foe in the pathogenesis of HIV and SARS-CoV-2 infections?Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Review
- Molecular Mimicry and HLA Polymorphisms May Drive Autoimmunity in Recipients of the BNT-162b2 mRNA Vaccine: A Computational Analysis.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- Structural and non-structural proteins in SARS-CoV-2: potential aspects to COVID-19 treatment or prevention of progression of related diseases.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Long coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a newly discovered syndrome characterized by multiple organ manifestations that persist for weeks to months, following the recovery from acute disease. Occasionally, neurological and cardiovascular side effects mimicking long COVID-19 have been reported in recipients of COVID-19 vaccines. Hypothetically, the clinical similarity could be due to a shared pathogenic role of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike (S) protein produced by the virus or used for immunization. The S protein can bind to neuropilin (NRP)-1, which normally functions as a coreceptor for the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A. By antagonizing the docking of VEGF-A to NRP-1, the S protein could disrupt physiological pathways involved in angiogenesis and nociception. One consequence could be the increase in unbound forms of VEGF-A that could bind to other receptors. SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals may exhibit increased plasma levels of VEGF-A during both acute illness and convalescence, which could be responsible for diffuse microvascular and neurological damage. A few studies suggest that serum VEGF-A may also be a potential biomarker for long COVID-19, whereas evidence for COVID-19 vaccines is lacking and merits further investigation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.