SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers pro-atherogenic inflammatory responses in human coronary [plaque]

COVID-19 patients present higher risk for myocardial infarction (MI), acute coronary syndrome, and stroke for up to 1 year after SARS-CoV-2 infection. While the systemic inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2 infection likely contributes to this increased cardiovascular risk, whether SARS35 CoV-2 directly infects the coronary vasculature and attendant atherosclerotic plaques to locally promote inflammation remains unknown. Here, we report that SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA (vRNA) is detectable and the virus replicates in coronary atherosclerotic lesions taken at autopsy from patients with severe COVID-19. Human carotid vascular explants were infected with 105 PFU/mL of SARS-CoV-2 virus (USA-WA1/2020 strain) . Non-infected tissues were used as controls.