Covid-19 and its relation to the human eye: transmission, infection, and ocular manifestations

Background The world is suffering from a new strain of the coronavirus family-Covid-19. This virus strain affected different organs in the human body with a wide range of mild symptoms and moderate signs to severe and deadly ones. Multiple organs can be infected, and one of these organs is the eye....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology 2023-07, Vol.261 (7), p.1771-1780
Main Authors: Eissa, Mahmoud, Abdelrazek, Nada A., Saady, Marwa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ACE2
Angiotensin
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Disease transmission
Eye
Immune response
Infections
Lacrimal gland and Nasolacrimal duct
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Ophthalmology
Peptidyl-dipeptidase A
Perspectives on COVID-19
Respiratory tract
Review
Review Article
Tears
Viruses
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Summary:Background The world is suffering from a new strain of the coronavirus family-Covid-19. This virus strain affected different organs in the human body with a wide range of mild symptoms and moderate signs to severe and deadly ones. Multiple organs can be infected, and one of these organs is the eye. The eye is a vital organ that consists of vascular tissues and is connected to the respiratory tract through the tears and the nasolacrimal duct. Methods Recent papers and research from PubMed, Researchgate, and Google Scholar were cited and thoroughly discussed. These papers were chosen based on their relevancy, reliability, publication year, published journal, and ease of accessibility to the paper itself. Results The theory concluded that the ocular surface might consider a pathway for the virus attack and infection causation through the tears and the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 located in the eye. This article thoroughly reviewed the history, the existing aspects of Covid-19, the ocular system features, and the claims about the possible involvement of the eye in the virus transmission along with the eye infection. There was no consensus on the eye’s involvement theory. Conclusion The authors highlighted the extra work and research needed to be conducted to prove or deny these claims to provide a better understanding of the immune response of the eye to Covid-19 infection.
ISSN:0721-832X
1435-702X
DOI:10.1007/s00417-022-05954-6