https://www.nature.com/articles/s44161-023-00336-5
"Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) present increased risk for
ischemic cardiovascular complications up to 1 year after infection. Although
the systemic inflammatory response to severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection likely contributes to this increased
cardiovascular risk, whether SARS-CoV-2 directly infects the coronary
vasculature and attendant atherosclerotic plaques remains unknown. Here we
report that SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA is detectable and replicates in coronary
lesions taken at autopsy from severe COVID-19 cases. SARS-CoV-2 targeted plaque
macrophages and exhibited a stronger tropism for arterial lesions than adjacent
perivascular fat, correlating with macrophage infiltration levels. SARS-CoV-2
entry was increased in cholesterol-loaded primary macrophages and dependent, in
part, on neuropilin-1. SARS-CoV-2 induced a robust inflammatory response in
cultured macrophages and human atherosclerotic vascular explants with secretion
of cytokines known to trigger cardiovascular events. Our data establish that
SARS-CoV-2 infects coronary vessels, inducing plaque inflammation that could
trigger acute cardiovascular complications and increase the long-term
cardiovascular risk."
Via Diane A.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
