Coronavirus infection primarily affects the blood vessels, and not the lungs of a person, therefore it should be attributed to vascular diseases. This conclusion was reached by American scientists who published an article in the scientific journal Circulation Research.
Experts from the University of California have created a pseudovirus, consisting only of S-protein, which forms the characteristic SARS-CoV-2 corona. It turned out that the pseudovirus is capable of causing COVID-19 disease.
The S-protein acts on the ACE-2 receptor, as a result, the mitochondria of the cell are damaged and, as a result, the walls of the vessels. Scientists note that it is the inflammation of the vascular tissue of the pulmonary system that makes it difficult for patients with COVID-19 to breathe.
“This explains why strokes and other complications associated with poor circulation are common,”
- the article says.
With a severe course of the disease, blood clots appear in the arteries, which leads, among other things, to the death of patients. The study authors believe that COVID-19 cannot be considered a disease like the common cold or flu.