Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Feb 27;13(3):415.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci13030415.

The Latest Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of COVID-19 on Non-Lung Organs

Hamid Askari  1 , Fatemeh Rabiei  1 , Fatemeh Lohrasbi  1 , Sara Ghadir  1 , Maryam Ghasemi-Kasman  2   3
Affiliations
Review

The Latest Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of COVID-19 on Non-Lung Organs

Hamid Askari et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Understanding the transmission pathways of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) will aid in developing effective therapies directed at the virus's life cycle or its side effects. While severe respiratory distress is the most common symptom of a coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) infection, the virus is also known to cause damage to almost every major organ and system in the body. However, it is not obvious whether pathological changes in extra-respiratory organs are caused by direct infection, indirect, or combination of these effects. In this narrative review, we first elaborate on the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, followed by the mechanisms of this virus on various organs such as brain, eye, and olfactory nerve and different systems such as the endocrine and gastrointestinal systems.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cellular mechanisms; molecular mechanisms; organ damage.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
SARS-CoV-2 characteristics. The proteins S glycoprotein, E glycoprotein, M, and N are required to SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity, replication, and structure. The virus uses ACE-2 receptors to enter cells. Priming the viral S protein requires the host cell’s TMPRSS2. (Created with BioRender.com).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Taste and olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19. IFN- γ and IL-6 are two examples of proinflammatory cytokines that can inhibit stem cells growth and reduce the lifespan of taste bud cells. Another sense that plays a role besides taste is smell. In contrast to ORN and olfactory bulb cells, sustentacle cells express high levels of ACE-2 and TMPRSS2. Loss of cilia on ORN due to infection of the sustentacular cells can interfere with the transmission of the odorous stimulus. Anosmia caused by COVID-19 was also linked to IL-6, proving the importance of this cytokine in the disease’s etiology. (Created with BioRender.com).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Overview of proposed mechanisms of COVID-19 on damage organ. Besides the respiratory system, the virus may infect and damage a wide variety of other tissues and organs. Virus infection increased the expression levels of IL-6, IL-1, and TNF-α. Even without viral invasion or dissemination, cytokine-driven damage can undermine the BBB. Neurotoxic cytokines can also activate microglia. B0AT1 modulates the absorption of tryptophan in the gut, interfering with immunity by suppressing inflammatory cytokines, maintaining the intestinal junction, and preventing dysbiosis. Also, COVID-19 can infect a follicular cell in thyroid gland and β cells in the pancreas and lead to hypothyroidism and hypoinsulinemia, respectively. (Created with BioRender.com).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Ozma M.A., Maroufi P., Khodadadi E., Köse Ş., Esposito I., Ganbarov K., Dao S., Esposito S., Dal T., Zeinalzadeh E. Clinical manifestation, diagnosis, prevention and control of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) during the outbreak period. Infez. Med. 2020;28:153–165. - PubMed
    1. Hu B., Guo H., Zhou P., Shi Z.L. Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 2021;19:141–154. doi: 10.1038/s41579-020-00459-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lu R., Zhao X., Li J., Niu P., Yang B., Wu H., Wang W., Song H., Huang B., Zhu N., et al. Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: Implications for virus origins and receptor binding. Lancet. 2020;395:565–574. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30251-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hoffmann M., Kleine-Weber H., Schroeder S., Krüger N., Herrler T., Erichsen S., Schiergens T.S., Herrler G., Wu N.-H., Nitsche A. SARS-CoV-2 cell entry depends on ACE2 and TMPRSS2 and is blocked by a clinically proven protease inhibitor. Cell. 2020;181:271–280.e278. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.02.052. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Varatharaj A., Thomas N., Ellul M.A., Davies N.W.S., Pollak T.A., Tenorio E.L., Sultan M., Easton A., Breen G., Zandi M., et al. Neurological and neuropsychiatric complications of COVID-19 in 153 patients: A UK-wide surveillance study. Lancet Psychiat. 2020;7:875–882. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30287-X. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources