Mechanisms of COVID‐19‐induced cardiovascular disease: Is sepsis or exosome the missing link?
Mallikarjun Patil, Sarojini Singh, John Henderson, Prasanna Krishnamurthy
Abstract
Abstract Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), has reached a pandemic level, spreading across the globe by affecting over 33 million people and causing over 1,009,270 deaths. SARS‐CoV‐2 is highly infectious with a high basic reproduction number ( R 0 ) of 2.2–5.7 that has led to its exponential spread. Besides, very little is known about it in terms of immunogenicity and its molecular targets. SARS‐CoV‐2 causes acute respiratory distress syndrome, followed by multiple organ failure and death in a small percentage of individuals. Cardiac injury has emerged as another dreaded outcome of COVID‐19 complications. However, a thorough understanding of the pathogenesis of SARS‐CoV‐2 is lacking. In this review, we discuss the virus, possible mechanisms of COVID‐19‐induced cardiac injury, and potential therapeutic strategies, and we explore if exosomes could be targeted to treat symptoms of COVID‐19. Furthermore, we discussed the virus‐induced sepsis, which may be the cause of multiple organ failure, including myocardial injury.