Orr-El Weizman

TL;DR: Investigators report that saliva specimens and nasopharyngeal swab specimens had similar sensitivity in the detection of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

TL;DR: Comparisons of RT–qPCR analytical efficiency and sensitivity show that all primer–probe sets can be used to detect SARS-CoV-2 at 500 viral RNA copies per reaction.

Abstract: Although COVID-19 is considered to be primarily a respiratory disease, SARS-CoV-2 affects multiple organ systems including the central nervous system (CNS). Yet, there is no consensus on the consequences of CNS infections. Here, we used three independent approaches to probe the capacity of SARS-CoV-2 to infect the brain. First, using human brain organoids, we observed clear evidence of infection with accompanying metabolic changes in infected and neighboring neurons. However, no evidence for type I interferon responses was detected. We demonstrate that neuronal infection can be prevented by blocking ACE2 with antibodies or by administering cerebrospinal fluid from a COVID-19 patient. Second, using mice overexpressing human ACE2, we demonstrate SARS-CoV-2 neuroinvasion in vivo. Finally, in autopsies from patients who died of COVID-19, we detect SARS-CoV-2 in cortical neurons and note pathological features associated with infection with minimal immune cell infiltrates. These results provide evidence for the neuroinvasive capacity of SARS-CoV-2 and an unexpected consequence of direct infection of neurons by SARS-CoV-2.

TL;DR: It is shown that tissue-resident type 1 innate lymphoid cells (ILC1) serve an essential early role in host immunity through rapid production of interferon (IFN)-γ following viral infection in response to local cDC1-derived proinflammatory cytokines.

TL;DR: Evidence is provided for the neuroinvasive capacity of SARS-CoV2, and an unexpected consequence of direct infection of neurons by SARS -CoV-2 is demonstrated.