Ocular Symptoms Associated with COVID-19 Are Correlated with the Expression Profile of Mouse SARS-CoV-2 Binding Sites

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has engendered significant scientific efforts in the understanding of its infectious agent SARS-CoV-2 and of its associated symptoms. A peculiar characteristic of this virus lies in its ability to challenge our senses, as its infection can lead to anosmia and ageusia. While ocular symptoms, such as conjunctivitis, optic neuritis or dry eyes, are also reported after viral infection, they have lower frequencies and severities, and their functional development is still elusive. Here, using combined technical approaches based on histological and gene profiling methods, we characterized the expression of SARS-CoV-2 binding sites (Ace2/Tmprss2) in the mouse eye. We found that ACE2 was ectopically expressed in subtissular ocular regions, such as in the optic nerve and in the Harderian/intraorbital lacrimal glands. Moreover, we observed an important variation of Ace2/Tmprss2 expression that is not only dependent on the age and sex of the animal, but also highly heterogenous between individuals. Our results thus give new insight into the expression of SARS-CoV-2 binding sites in the mouse eye and propose an interpretation of the human ocular-associated symptoms linked to SARS-CoV-2.

Mendelian randomization supports causality between COVID-19 and glaucoma

“…[ 39 ] Increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 may invade the human body through the eyes [ 40 ] although there are inconsistent conclusions on whether the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 is more expressed in the conjunctiva or optic nerve. [ 41 – 43 ] Furthermore, it is verified that the activation of intrinsic ACE2 is a potential therapeutic strategy to treat glaucoma, [ 44 ] at the same time, drugs targeting ACE2 receptors can be considered as therapeutic candidates for COVID-19 treatment. [ 45 , 46 ] However, COVID-19 is thought to be a cause of vascular complications.…”