https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223027189
"Patients with chronic cardiomyopathy may have persistent viral infections in
their hearts, particularly with SARS-CoV-2, which targets the ACE2 receptor
highly expressed in human hearts. This raises concerns about a potential global
heart failure pandemic stemming from COVID-19, an SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in near
future. Although faced with this healthcare caveat, there is limited research
on persistent viral heart infections, and no models have been established. In
this study, we created an SARS-CoV-2 persistent infection model using human iPS
cell-derived cardiac microtissues (CMTs). Mild infections sustained viral
presence without significant dysfunction for a month, indicating persistent
infection. However, when exposed to hypoxic conditions mimicking ischemic heart
diseases, cardiac function deteriorated alongside intracellular SARS-CoV-2
reactivation in cardiomyocytes and disrupted vascular network formation. This
study demonstrates that SARS-CoV-2 persistently infects the heart
opportunistically causing cardiac dysfunction triggered by detrimental stimuli
such as ischemia, potentially predicting a post COVID-19 era heart failure
pandemic."
Via Violet Blue’s
Pandemic Roundup: December 28, 2023
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-95419817
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
