University of Missouri School of Medicine researchers have found that the virus that causes COVID-19 can penetrate the retina's protective barrier with potential long-term consequences.
The blood-retinal barrier protects our eyes from infections by preventing microbial pathogens from reaching the retina.
The research team, led by Pawan Kumar Singh, assistant professor of ophthalmology, discovered that when viruses are inhaled and enter the body, they not only infect organs such as the lungs, but also reach highly protected organs such as the eyes, by infecting the cells lining the blood-retinal barrier.
“This finding is important as we increase our understanding of the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection,” Singh said. “The results reveal that SARS-CoV-2 not only reaches the eye during systemic infection, but also causes an excessive inflammatory response in the retina and thus cell death in the barrier.” "Retinal hematoma. The longer virus remains remain in the eye, the greater the risk of damage to the retina and visual function."
Singh also discovered that the prolonged presence of SARS-CoV-2 antigen can cause retinal microaneurysms, retinal artery and vein occlusion, and vascular leakage.
Although it has been discovered that viruses and bacteria penetrate the blood-retinal barrier in people with weak immunity, this study is the first to reveal that the Corona virus penetrates the blood-retinal barrier even in healthy individuals, leading to the emergence of an infection within the eye itself.
The study was published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
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