COVID-19 Causes Ciliary Dysfunction as Demonstrated by Human Intranasal Micro-Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging

Area of Science:

• Respiratory Medicine
• Virology
• Biomedical Imaging

Background:

• Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infects respiratory epithelial cells via ACE2 receptors.
• COVID-19 can cause significant respiratory dysfunction, impacting mucociliary clearance.
• Understanding early cellular changes in COVID-19 is crucial for disease management.

Approach:

• Micro-optical coherence tomography (μOCT) was utilized for high-resolution, real-time imaging of the nasal epithelium.
• Symptomatic COVID-19 patients (n=13) and healthy controls (n=8) were analyzed within 14 days of symptom onset.
• μOCT assessed epithelial anatomy, ciliary motion, and mucus transport dynamics.

Key Points:

• COVID-19 patients exhibited significantly reduced functional cilia and diminished ciliary beat frequency.
• Abnormal ciliary activity, epithelial denudation, mucus rafts, and increased inflammatory cells were observed.
• These findings demonstrate functional abnormalities in the respiratory mucosa of individuals with mild symptomatic COVID-19.

Conclusions:

• Symptomatic COVID-19 leads to significant mucociliary dysfunction.
• μOCT is a valuable tool for investigating early pathogenic mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2.
• Assessing mucociliary health is important for understanding viral illness and disease transmission, and for evaluating therapeutic responses.