SARS-CoV-2 and the next generations: which impact on reproductive tissues?

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a severe global pandemic, affecting mostly the respiratory system. Understandably, attention is also being directed towards the urogenital tract. In this work, expression patterns of various host molecules possibly involved in viral entry and replication were investigated in human female and male reproductive systems by inquiring online repositories, including the Human Protein Atlas, GTEx, FANTOM5. Our findings highlight that male reproductive tissues could be targeted by SARS-CoV-2, particularly the testis since it co-expresses the receptor (ACE2) and the protease (TMPRSS) needed for viral entry. We hypothesized that SARS-CoV-2 infection could have repercussions on the fertility status of male individuals Potential infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in reproductive tissues should be considered in reproductive medicine and management of in vitro fertilization in present and future generations.

Keywords: Gene expression; Reproductive tissues; SARS-CoV-2.

Fig. 1

Schematic representation of the potential SARS-CoV-2 infection in the reproductive system. (A) Viral entry into the cells, highlighting the host factors possibly involved. (B) The potential infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in female (low risk of infection) and male (high risk of infection) reproductive system. (C) The potential infectivity of testis cells based on the co-expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS (the virus image together with hazard icon indicate the cells at the high risk)