Respiratory system is surely the main target of COVID-19 infection, but consequences can be beyond the lungs as mentioned in the above column. Significant proportion of patients infected with the virus present gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, which means the digestive system is also in danger of damage. A study utilised a novel culture device called Intestine Chip for the investigation of inflammatory and pathological effects of coronavirus infection on human intestine, comparing alongside with existing methods of organoids and Transwell® inserts. The chip is a device with two parallel channels each with different lining: one with human intestinal epithelium, another with human vascular endothelium, such setting allows the mimic of human intestine to a greater extent than other methods. Invasion route of SARS-CoV-2 virus was confirmed as previous studies had suggested to be ACE2 receptors supporting the virus entry through infecting the chip with NL63 virus, a coronavirus subtype that causes common cold and induces GI symptoms as SARS-CoV-2 does. Furthermore, remdesivir was introduced to the infected chip and found to be ineffective in protecting against NL63 infection but instead brought damage to the endothelium exhibiting toxicity. In short, the device may be used as a human preclinical model for the study of disease pathology and potential therapeutics.

References

1. Bein A, et al. Front Pharmacol. 2021;12.