Microvascular Angiopathic Consequences of COVID-19

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly spread across the world. The disease is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which first appeared in Wuhan, China in December, 2019. Ever increasing data is emerging about COVID-19 and its effects on the arterial and venous circulation. Clinical features associated with COVID-19 suggest that endothelial cell dysfunction and microvascular thrombosis are to a large part contributing to resultant multi-organ complications. This review is aimed at highlighting the critical aspects associated with COVID-19 and its presumed microvascular angiopathic complications leading to multi-organ dysfunction.

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Microvascular Angiopathic Consequences of COVID-19

Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine ◽

10.3389/fcvm.2021.636843 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Margaret Nalugo ◽

Linda J. Schulte ◽

Muhammad F. Masood ◽

Mohamed A. Zayed

Keyword(s):

Endothelial Cell ◽

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽

Organ System ◽

Endothelial Cell Dysfunction ◽

Cardiovascular Tissue ◽

Cell Dysfunction ◽

The World ◽

The Impact ◽

Organ Complications ◽

Critical Aspects

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly spread across the world. The disease is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which first appeared in Wuhan, China in December, 2019. Ever increasing data is continuing to emerge about the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular tissue and other organ system. Clinical features associated with COVID-19 suggest that endothelial cell dysfunction and microvascular thrombosis are to a large extent contributing to resultant multi-organ complications. This review is aimed at highlighting the critical aspects associated with COVID-19 and its presumed microvascular angiopathic consequences on the cardiovascular system leading to multi-organ dysfunction.

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Vascular adaptation in pregnancy and endothelial dysfunction in preeclampsia

Journal of Endocrinology ◽

10.1530/joe-16-0340 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 232 (1) ◽

pp. R27-R44 ◽

Cited By ~ 90

Author(s):

D S Boeldt ◽

I M Bird

Keyword(s):

Endothelial Cell ◽

Endothelial Dysfunction ◽

Cell Function ◽

Endothelial Cell Dysfunction ◽

Hypertensive Disorders Of Pregnancy ◽

Endothelial Cell Function ◽

Vascular Adaptation ◽

Cell Dysfunction ◽

Maternal Adaptation ◽

Flow Through

Maternal vascular adaptation to pregnancy is critically important to expand the capacity for blood flow through the uteroplacental unit to meet the needs of the developing fetus. Failure of the maternal vasculature to properly adapt can result in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy such as preeclampsia (PE). Herein, we review the endocrinology of maternal adaptation to pregnancy and contrast this with that of PE. Our focus is specifically on those hormones that directly influence endothelial cell function and dysfunction, as endothelial cell dysfunction is a hallmark of PE. A variety of growth factors and cytokines are present in normal vascular adaptation to pregnancy. However, they have also been shown to be circulating at abnormal levels in PE pregnancies. Many of these factors promote endothelial dysfunction when present at abnormal levels by acutely inhibiting key Ca2+ signaling events and chronically promoting the breakdown of endothelial cell–cell contacts. Increasingly, our understanding of how the contributions of the placenta, immune cells, and the endothelium itself promote the endocrine milieu of PE is becoming clearer. We then describe in detail how the complex endocrine environment of PE affects endothelial cell function, why this has contributed to the difficulty in fully understanding and treating this disorder, and how a focus on signaling convergence points of many hormones may be a more successful treatment strategy.

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