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SARS-CoV-2 infection boosts inflammation in atherosclerotic plaques

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From Nature Cardiovascular Research

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The incidence of acute cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke, is increased in individuals with COVID-19. A study shows that SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect macrophages and foam cells in atherosclerotic plaques and contribute to plaque instability.

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Fig. 1: SARS-CoV-2 infects coronary vessel lesions.

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Acknowledgements

Work in the Giacca laboratory is supported by the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant 787971 ‘CuRE’; British Heart Foundation (BHF) program grant RG/19/11/34633; King’s College London BHF Centre of Research Excellence grant RE/18/2/34213; grants 825670 ‘CardioReGenix’ and 874764 ‘REANIMA’ from the European Commission Horizon 2020 program.

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  1. School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine & Sciences, British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence, King’s College London, London, UK

    Mauro Giacca

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  1. Mauro Giacca
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Correspondence to Mauro Giacca.

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Competing interests

M.G. is founder, consultant, member of the Board and equity holder in Forcefield Therapeutics, Heqet Therapeutics and Purespring Therapeutics.

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Giacca, M. SARS-CoV-2 infection boosts inflammation in atherosclerotic plaques. Nat Cardiovasc Res 2, 966–967 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44161-023-00358-z

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