Viral neuroinvasion and neurotropism without neuronal damage in the hACE2 mouse model of COVID-19

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a primarily respiratory disease with variable clinical courses for which animal models are needed to gather insights into the pathogenesis of its causative virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), in human patients. SARS-CoV-2 not only affects the respiratory tract but also the central nervous system (CNS), leading to neurological symptoms such as loss of smell and taste, headache, fatigue or severe complications like cerebrovascular diseases. Transgenic mice expressing human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) under the cytokeratin 18 promoter (K18-hACE2) represent a well-known model of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the present study, it served to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution and pathomorphological features in the CNS following intranasal infection with relatively low SARS-CoV-2 doses and after prior influenza A virus infection. In K18-hACE2 mice, SARS-CoV-2 was found to frequently spread to and within the CNS during the later phase (day 7) of infection. Infection was restricted to neurons and appeared to first affect the olfactory bulb and spread from there mainly in basally orientated regions in the brain and into the spinal cord, in a dose dependent manner and independent of ACE2 expression. Neuronal infection was not associated with cell death, axonal damage or demyelination. However, microglial activation, microgliosis and a mild macrophage and T cell dominated inflammatory response was consistently observed. This was accompanied by apoptotic death of endothelial, microglial and immune cells, without evidence of viral infection of glial cells, endothelial cells and leukocytes. Taken together, microgliosis and immune cell apoptosis indicate a potential important role of microglial cells for the pathogenesis and viral effect in COVID-19 and possible impairment of neurological functions, especially in long COVID. These data may also be informative for the selection of therapeutic candidates, and broadly support investigation of agents with adequate penetration into relevant regions of the CNS.