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Wintertagung der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Augenärztlichen Gesellschaft 2021

Berlin-Brandenburgische Augenärztliche Gesellschaft

03.-04.12.2021, Berlin

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Low vulnerability of the posterior eye segment to SARS-CoV2 infection

Meeting Abstract

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  • Steffen E. Künzel - Berlin – Klinik für Augenheilkunde, Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin
  • T. Bürgel - Berlin – Center for Digital Health, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) und Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität AU2 zu Berlin
  • S. H. Künzel - Bonn – Universitäts-Augenklinik
  • D. Pohlmann - Berlin – Klinik für Augenheilkunde, Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin
  • O. Zeitz - Berlin – Klinik für Augenheilkunde, Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin
  • A.M. Joussen - Berlin – Klinik für Augenheilkunde, Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin
  • A. Dubrac - Montréal/CAN – Centre de Recherche et Département de Pathologie et Biologie, CHU St. Justine

Berlin-Brandenburgische Augenärztliche Gesellschaft. Wintertagung der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Augenärztlichen Gesellschaft 2021. Berlin, 03.-04.12.2021. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2022. Doc21bbag31

doi: 10.3205/21bbag31, urn:nbn:de:0183-21bbag319

Published: January 10, 2022

© 2022 Künzel et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

Text

Purpose: Retinal manifestations have been described in COVID-19 patients, but it is unknown whether SARS-CoV-2, the causal agent in COVID-19, can directly infect posterior ocular tissues. Here, we investigate SARS-CoV-2 host factor gene expression levels and their distribution across retinal and choroidal cell types.

Methods: Query of single-cell RNA sequencing data from human retina and choroid.

Results: We find no relevant expression of two key genes involved in SARS-CoV-2 entry, ACE2 and TMPRSS2, in retinal cell types. By contrast, scarce expression levels could be detected in choroidal vascular cells.

Conclusion: Given the current understanding of viral host-cell entry, these findings suggest a low vulnerability of the posterior eye segment to SARS-CoV-2 with a potential weak spot in the vasculature, which could play a putative causative role in ocular lesions in COVID-19 patients. This may qualify the vasculature of the human posterior eye segment as an in-vivo biomarker for life-threatening vascular occlusions in COVID-19 patients