Pathogens (Jul 2021)

Presence of SARS-CoV-2 in a Cornea Transplant

  • Myriem Otmani Idrissi,
  • Jean-Pierre Baudoin,
  • Anne-Line Chateau,
  • Sarah Aherfi,
  • Marielle Bedotto-Buffet,
  • Alain Latil,
  • Hubert Lepidi,
  • Jacques Chiaroni,
  • Christophe Picard,
  • Jean-Louis Mege,
  • Bernard La Scola,
  • Soraya Mezouar

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10080934
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 8
p. 934

Abstract

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Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has impacted tissue transplantation procedures since conjunctivas were found to be associated with coronavirus infection. Here, we investigated infection of a cornea graft from a COVID-19-positive donor. Methods: In order to evaluate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the cornea graft we first carried out a qRT-PCR and then we investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 by fluorescence and electron microscopy. Conclusions: Although the cornea graft was found to be negative by qRT-PCR, we were able to show the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in corneal cells expressing the SARS-CoV-2 receptor, ACE2. Taken together, our findings may have important implications for the use of corneal tissue in graft indications and open the debate on SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility.

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