학술논문
Histopathology and SARS-CoV-2 cellular localization in eye tissues of COVID-19 autopsies
Document Type
Article
Author
Sen, H. Nida; Vannella, Kevin M.; Wang, Yujuan; Chung, Joon-Yong; Kodati, Shilpa; Ramelli, Sabrina C.; Lee, Jung Wha; Perez, Paola; Stein, Sydney R.; Grazioli, Alison; Dickey, James M.; Ylaya, Kris; Singh, Manmeet; Yinda, Kwe Claude; Platt, Andrew; Ramos-Benitez, Marcos J.; Zerbe, Christa; Munster, Vincent J.; de Wit, Emmie; Warner, Blake M; Herr, Daniel L.; Rabin, Joseph; Saharia, Kapil K; Kleiner, David E.; Hewitt, Stephen M.; Chan, Chi-Chao; Chertow, Daniel S.; Stein, Sydney R.; Ramelli, Sabrina C.; Ramos-Benitez, Marcos J.; Platt, Andrew P.; Dickey, James M.; Curran, Shelly J.; Babyak, Ashley L.; Valencia, Luis Perez; Richert, Mary E.; Vannella, Kevin M.; Chertow, Daniel S.; Kleiner, David E.; Hewitt, Stephen M.; Young, Willie J.; Young, Sarah P.; Gasmi, Billel; De Melo, Michelly Sampaio; Desar, Sabina; Tadros, Saber; Nasir, Nadia; Jin, Xueting; Rajan, Sharika; Dikoglu, Esra; Ozkaya, Neval; Ylaya, Kris; Chung, Joon-Yong; Pittaluga, Stefania; Smith, Grace; Emanuel, Elizabeth R.; Kelsall, Brian; Olivera, Justin A.; Blawas, Megan; Grazioli, Alison; Hays, Nicole; Purcell, Madeleine; Singireddy, Shreya; Wu, Jocelyn; Raja, Katherine; Curto, Ryan; Chung, Jean; Borth, Amy; Bowers, Kimberly; Weichold, Anne; Minor, Paula; Moshref, Mirahmad; Kelly, Emily; Sajadi, Mohammad M.; Scalea, Thomas M.; Tran, Douglas; Madathil, Ronson J.; Dahi, Siamak; Deatrick, Kristopher B.; Krause, Eric M.; Rabin, Joseph; Herrold, Joseph A.; Tabatabai, Ali; Hochberg, Eric; Cornachione, Christopher; Levine, Andrea R.; Saharia, Kapil K.; Richards, Justin E.; Elder, John; Burke, Allen; Mazzeffi, Michael A.; Christenson, Robert; Chancer, Zackary; Abdulmahdi, Mustafa; Sopha, Sabrina; Goldberg, Tyler; Soherwardi, Shahabuddin; Sangwan, Yashvir; McCurdy, Michael T.; Sudano, Kristen; Blume, Diane; Radin, Bethany; Arnouk, Madhat; Eagan, James W.; Herr, Daniel L.; Zerbe, Christa
Source
American Journal of Pathology; 20230101, Issue: Preprints
Subject
Language
ISSN
00029440
Abstract
Ophthalmic manifestations and tissue tropism of SARS-CoV-2 have been reported in association with COVID-19, but the pathology and cellular localization of SARS-CoV-2 are not well characterized. The objective of this study was to evaluate macroscopic and microscopic changes and investigate cellular localization of SARS-CoV-2 across ocular tissues at autopsy. Ocular tissues were obtained from 25 COVID-19 patients at autopsy. SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid gene RNA was previously quantified by ddPCR from one eye. For this current study, contralateral eyes from 21 patients were fixed in formalin and subject to histopathologic examination. From the other four patients, sections of the ddPCR-positive eyes were evaluated by situ hybridization to determine the cellular localization of SARS-CoV-2 spike gene RNA. Histopathological abnormalities including cytoid bodies, vascular changes, and retinal edema, with minimal or no inflammation in ocular tissues were observed in all 21 cases evaluated. In situ hybridization localized SARS-CoV-2 RNA to neuronal cells of the retinal inner and outer layers, ganglion cells, corneal epithelia, scleral fibroblasts and oligodendrocytes of the optic nerve. In conclusion, within ocular tissues, a range of common histopathological alterations were identified, and SARS-CoV-2 RNA was localized to multiple cell types. Further studies will be required to determine whether the alterations observed were caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection, the host immune response, and/or preexisting co-morbidities.