Scientists from the Bochum university hospital found how COVID-19 attack the heart.
In the study, the team found that SARS-Cov-2 infects human cardiac muscle cells and that this infection is primarily fuelled by inflammation and oxidative stress.
This occurs mainly in patients with comorbidities such as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
The research is published in The International Journal of Cardiology and was conducted by Dr. Nazha Hamdani et al.
The coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 can cause severe organ damage in humans. Heart complications are one of the possible consequences of an infection.
In addition, the virus also attacks the heart directly, can cause myocarditis and lead to heart failure.
In the study, the team analyzed heart tissue structures from patients suffering from COVID-19 and those who died from or with the disease.
In a first step, they provided evidence that the virus can indeed be detected directly in the cells of the heart muscle.
They found that the virus exerts pressure on the heart muscle, attacks and weakens the contractile force, i.e., the pumping function of the heart.
The team then showed that one possible mechanism of cardiac muscle cell dysfunction in SARS-Cov-2 patients is the activation of certain enzymes that degrade proteins.
In fact, the team detected an increased so-called proteolytic activity.
This suggests that SARS-Cov-2 enters cells as a result of the activation of the spike protein by enzymes responsible for the degradation of proteins and that its entry into cells depends on these degradation enzymes.
In addition, the team examined proteins that are responsible for apoptosis, i.e. cellular suicide. They showed that while the apoptotic proteins had increased activity, their expression was drastically reduced.
The results imply that apoptosis contributes to the deterioration in heart health observed in COVID-19 patients.
In the next step, the team set out to explore what promotes the increased proteolytic activity and apoptosis of cardiac myocytes.
The study showed that oxidative stress and a pro-inflammatory environment exacerbate the damage associated with COVID-19.
If you care about heart health, please read studies that vitamin D can help reduce inflammation, and vitamin K could lower your heart disease risk by a third.
For more information about Covid, please see recent studies that shark stuff could fight COVID-19 virus, and results showing this old drug can save the life from COVID-19.
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