Evaluation of Macular Retinal Vessels and Histological Changes in Two Cases of COVID-19
The purpose of this study was to assess vascular and histological alterations in two COVID-19 and three control post-mortem retinas. The macular areas of flat-mounted samples were processed for immunofluorescence. Lectin and collagen IV positive vessels were captured under confocal microscopy, and e...
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
MDPI AG
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/01f3a26be8e642f89bbbec6991f6a4f2 |
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| Sumario: | The purpose of this study was to assess vascular and histological alterations in two COVID-19 and three control post-mortem retinas. The macular areas of flat-mounted samples were processed for immunofluorescence. Lectin and collagen IV positive vessels were captured under confocal microscopy, and endothelium loss and tortuosity were analyzed. Expression of ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) (the receptor for SARS-CoV-2), Iba1 (ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1) and GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) were quantified in retinal sections. The number of lectin vessels in COVID-19 retinas decreased by 27% compared to the control (<i>p</i> < 0.01) and the tortuosity increased in COVID-19 retinas (7.3 ± 0.2) vs. control retinas (6.8 ± 0.07) (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Immunofluorescence analysis revealed an increase in ACE2 (2.3 ± 1.3 vs. 1.0 ± 0.1; <i>p</i> < 0.0001) and Iba1 expression (3.06 ± 0.6 vs. 1.0 ± 0.1; <i>p</i> < 0.01) in COVID-19 sections whereas no changes in GFAP were observed. Analysis of the COVID-19 macular retinal tissue suggested that endothelial cells are a preferential target of SARS-CoV-2 with subsequent changes through their ACE2 receptor expression and morphology. Thus, microglial activation was hyperactive when facing an ensuing immunological challenge after SARS-CoV-2 infection. |
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