SARS-CoV-2 affects cardiomyocytes through ACE2 and endosomal inflammatory infiltration.
In a study conducted by the University of Washington School of Medicine, researchers have provided evidence that COVID-19 can damage heart muscle and prevent shortening. They found that the damage caused by the virus reproduces inside heart muscle cells, leading to cell death. The results of the study were published in the Journal of the American College of Geology: Basic to Translational Science.
COVID-19 is known to have an effect on the heart and has been associated with decreased ability to pump blood and abnormal heart rhythms. However, it has never been clear whether these complications arise as a result of the disease or the inflammatory response to the virus.
“Early in the pandemic, we had evidence that this coronavirus can cause heart failure or heart injury in healthy people in general, which was frightening to the cardiology community,” said Kory J. Lavine, lead author of the study. ”Even some college athletes who were abducted to return to competitive athletics after COVID-19 infection showed scarring in the heart. There has been debate as to whether this is due to a direct infection of the heart or a systemic response that occurs due to a lung infection. ”
The researchers behind the study used stem cells to create a heart tissue that could model disease as well as how the heart contracts, allowing them to study the progress of COVID-19 within the human heart.
Results from the study showed that viral infection with COVID-19 kills heart muscle cells and destroys the muscle fiber units that are responsible for shortening within the heart muscle. Furthermore, the team found that this type of cell death and muscle fiber loss can occur even in the absence of inflammation.
“COVID-19 triggers a different immune response in the heart compared to other viruses, and we don’t know what that means yet,” Lavine said. “In general, the immune cells seen respond. other viruses tend to be associated with relatively short-term infection that resolves with supportive care. But the immune cells we see in COVID-19 heart patients tend to be associated with a persistent condition that can have long-term effects. These are societies, so we need more research to understand what is happening. “