Title Plasma of COVID-19 patients does not alter electrical resistance of human endothelial blood-brain barrier in vitro /
Authors Pociūtė, Agnė ; Kriaučiūnaitė, Karolina ; Kaušylė, Aida ; Zablockienė, Birutė ; Alčauskas, Tadas ; Jelinskaitė, Augustė ; Rudėnaitė, Akvilė ; Jančorienė, Ligita ; Ročka, Saulius ; Verkhratsky, Alexei ; Pivoriūnas, Augustas
DOI 10.1093/function/zqae002
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Is Part of Function.. Oxford : Oxford University Press (OUP). 2024, vol. 5, iss. 2, art. no. zqae002, p. [1-9].. eISSN 2633-8823
Keywords [eng] COVID-19 ; blood-brain barrier ; TEER ; cytokines ; plasma
Abstract [eng] The pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) instigated the most serious global health crisis. Clinical presentation of COVID-19 frequently includes severe neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms. However, it is presently unknown whether and to which extent pathological impairment of blood-brain barrier (BBB) contributes to the development of neuropathology during COVID-19 progression. In the present study we used human induced pluripotent stem cells-derived brain endothelial cells (iBECs) to study the effects of blood plasma derived from COVID-19 patients on the BBB integrity in vitro. We also performed a comprehensive analysis of the cytokine and chemokine profiles in the plasma of COVID-19 patients, healthy and recovered individuals. We found significantly increased levels of interferon γ-induced protein 10 kDa (IP-10), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and interleukin-18 (IL-18) in the plasma of COVID-19 patients. However, blood plasma from COVID-19 patients did not affect transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) in iBEC monolayers. Our results demonstrate that COVID-19-associated blood plasma inflammatory factors do not affect BBB paracellular pathway directly and suggest that pathological remodelling (if any) of BBB during COVID-19 may occur through indirect or yet unknown mechanisms.
Published Oxford : Oxford University Press (OUP)
Type Journal article
Language English
Publication date 2024
CC license CC license description