Potential Impact of Brain and Heart Interaction on
Cardiovascular System in COVID-19 Patients
Qianyun Guo*, Xunxun Feng*, Yujie Zhou
Qianyun Guo and Xunxun Feng contributed to this work equally as the
first authors.
Department of Cardiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Beijing Institute of
Heart Lung and Blood Vessel Disease, Capital Medical University, Beijing
100029, China
Correspondence to: Dr. Yujie Zhou, Department of Cardiology, Beijing
Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100029, China (Tel:
86-10-64456489. Fax: 86-10-64442234. Email:
azzyj12@163.com)
Abstract : Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has affected
many regions and countries. It is caused by the severe acute respiratory
syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has a powerful ability to
spread and is highly lethal. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to CoVs, together with
the SARS-CoV and middle east respiratory syndrome-CoV. SARS-CoV-2
damages the lungs and some other organs in humans by infecting cells via
binding to the ACE2 receptor. The infection with SARS-CoV-2 results in
varying degrees of clinical manifestations. Although the amount of the
evidence in favor of the impact of COVID-19 on the clinical
manifestations of myocardial injury and the onset of cardiovascular
disease (CVD) is increasing, myocardial cell damage caused by viruses
not identified in biopsies and autopsies. Therefore, it has been
suggested that viruses might affect cardiac function by mechanisms other
than direct infection of cardiomyocytes, and several plausible
conjectures have been proposed. Based on the fact that the viruses can
exert influence on multiple systems in an organism, this article
describes and proposes, for the first time, the possible impact of the
interaction between the brain and the heart on the cardiovascular system
in COVID-19 patients.
Keywords : COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; brain; heart; interaction