A research study finds that SARS-CoV-2 can cause heart damage indirectly through systemic swelling, exposing a new understanding of cardiovascular issues from COVID-19 and recommending prospective anti-inflammatory treatments. Credit: SciTechDaily.com NIH-supported research study shows that the infection that causes COVID-19 can harm the heart without directly infecting heart tissue.SARS-CoV-2, the virus that triggers COVID-19, can harm the heart even without directly infecting the heart tissue, a National Institutes of Health-supported study has actually discovered. The research study, published in the journal Circulation, specifically looked at damage to the hearts of individuals with SARS-CoV2-associated severe breathing distress syndrome (ARDS), a severe lung condition that can be deadly. Scientists stated the findings might have importance to organs beyond the heart and also to viruses other than SARS-CoV-2. Investigating the Cause of Heart DamageScientists have long known that COVID-19 increases the danger of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and Long COVID, and prior imaging research has actually shown that over 50% of people who get COVID-19 experience some swelling or damage to the heart. What scientists did not know is whether the damage occurs because the virus contaminates the heart tissue itself, or due to the fact that of systemic inflammation activated by the bodys popular immune response to the virus.”This was a vital question and discovering the answer opens an entire new understanding of the link in between this severe lung injury and the sort of inflammation that can result in cardiovascular problems,” said Michelle Olive, Ph.D., associate director of the Early and fundamental Translational Research Program at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of NIH. “The research study also recommends that reducing the swelling through treatments might help decrease these issues.”Research Findings and Potential TreatmentsTo reach their findings, the scientists concentrated on immune cells referred to as cardiac macrophages, which generally carry out a vital function in keeping the tissue healthy but can turn inflammatory in response to injury such as heart attack or heart failure. The scientists analyzed heart tissue specimens from 21 clients who passed away from SARS-CoV-2-associated ARDS and compared them with specimens from 33 clients who passed away from non-COVID-19 causes. They also infected mice with SARS-CoV-2 to follow what took place to the macrophages after infection.In both humans and mice, they found the SARS-CoV-2 infection increased the overall number of heart macrophages and also triggered them to move from their normal regular and end up being inflammatory.When macrophages are no longer doing their typical tasks, that includes sustaining the metabolism of the heart and cleaning out hazardous germs or other foreign representatives, they weaken the heart and the rest of the body, stated Matthias Nahrendorf, M.D., Ph.D., teacher of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and senior author on the study.The scientists then designed a study in mice to check whether the action they observed happened due to the fact that SARS-CoV-2 was contaminating the heart straight, or due to the fact that the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the lungs was severe enough to render the heart macrophages more inflammatory. This research study simulated the lung inflammation signals, but without the presence of the real infection. The outcome: even in the lack of a virus, the mice showed immune actions strong enough to produce the exact same heart macrophage shift the researchers observed both in the clients who died of COVID-19 and the mice infected with SARS-CoV-2 infection.”What this study reveals is that after a COVID infection, the body immune system can inflict remote damage on other organs by activating major swelling throughout the body– and this remains in addition to damage the virus itself has actually directly inflicted on the lung tissue,” said Nahrendorf. “These findings can also be applied more usually, as our outcomes suggest that any extreme infection can send shockwaves through the entire body.”The research study group likewise found that blocking the immune action with a reducing the effects of antibody in the mice stopped the flow of inflammatory heart macrophages and preserved heart function. While they have yet to evaluate this in people, Nahrendorf said a treatment like this might be used as a preventive step to help COVID-19 clients with pre-existing conditions, or people who are likely to have more severe outcomes from SARS-CoV-2 associated ARDS.Reference: “Virus-Induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Causes Cardiomyopathy Through Eliciting Inflammatory Responses in the Heart” by Jana Grune, Geetika Bajpai, Pervin Tülin Ocak, Eva Kaufmann, Kyle Mentkowksi, Steffen Pabel, Nina Kumowski, Fadi E. Pulous, Kim A. Tran, David Rohde, Shuang Zhang, Yoshiko Iwamoto, Gregory R. Wojtkiewicz, Claudio Vinegoni, Ursula Green, Filip K. Swirski, James R. Stone, Jochen K. Lennerz, Maziar Divangahi, Maarten Hulsmans and Matthias Nahrendorf, 20 March 2024, Circulation.DOI: 10.1161/ CIRCULATIONAHA.123.066433 Funding: This research study was supported by NHLBI grants: HL139598, HL149647, hl142494, and hl155097.
Credit: SciTechDaily.com NIH-supported research study reveals that the infection that causes COVID-19 can harm the heart without directly infecting heart tissue.SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can harm the heart even without straight infecting the heart tissue, a National Institutes of Health-supported study has actually discovered. Examining the Cause of Heart DamageScientists have long understood that COVID-19 increases the danger of heart attack, stroke, and Long COVID, and prior imaging research has shown that over 50% of people who get COVID-19 experience some swelling or damage to the heart. They likewise contaminated mice with SARS-CoV-2 to follow what occurred to the macrophages after infection.In both mice and human beings, they discovered the SARS-CoV-2 infection increased the total number of cardiac macrophages and also triggered them to shift from their typical regular and end up being inflammatory.When macrophages are no longer doing their typical jobs, which consists of sustaining the metabolism of the heart and clearing out harmful bacteria or other foreign representatives, they deteriorate the heart and the rest of the body, stated Matthias Nahrendorf, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and senior author on the study.The researchers then created a research study in mice to evaluate whether the action they observed happened due to the fact that SARS-CoV-2 was contaminating the heart directly, or because the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the lungs was severe sufficient to render the heart macrophages more inflammatory.