Research from Australia’s Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health indicates that changes in sperm caused by COVID-19 in male mice may influence brain development and lead to increased anxiety-like behaviors in their offspring. The study reveals that mice conceived after their fathers had been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus exhibited heightened anxiety. Elizabeth Kleeman, the study’s first author, explained that male mice were allowed to recover from the infection for several weeks before mating with healthy females, resulting in offspring that displayed more anxious behaviors than those from uninfected males. The research utilized a mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 model, where adult male mice were infected or subjected to a mock control before mating four weeks later.
The findings showed a consistent pattern of increased anxiety-like behaviors in the progeny of infected sires. Lead researcher Anthony Hannan noted that exposure to adverse factors, like poor diet, can alter information in sperm that affects offspring brain development and behavior. The study found that RNA gene material from the sperm of infected fathers showed alterations in molecules regulating critical genes for brain development. Additionally, female offspring displayed significant changes in gene activity in the hippocampus, a brain region vital for managing emotional responses like anxiety and stress. Co-senior author Carolina Gubert stated that these changes in the hippocampus and other brain areas may contribute to the observed increase in anxiety, potentially through epigenetic inheritance.
Hannan emphasized that this research is unprecedented, and if applicable to humans, it could affect millions of families globally, underscoring significant public health implications. He concluded that further research is essential, especially regarding the sperm and offspring of humans infected with the virus, as these findings suggest COVID-19 might have enduring effects on future generations.