Harry Spoelstra
Mitochondria in SARS-CoV-2 infection: Immune interactions and molecular approaches in the Post COVID-19 condition 🚨SARSCoV2 doesn’t just infect you. It hijacks your mitochondria, the cell’s power plants and immune alarm system, and can leave them wrecked long after the virus is gone. That double hit may explain why some people never fully “get their energy back.” ➡️This interesting Brazilian review synthesizes how SARSCoV2 targets mitochondria and how that damage helps drive both acute disease and post-COVID-19 condition (PCC/LongC0VID). ➡️Review findings: - Viral proteins (ORF9b, ORF10, ORF3a, ORF9c, Spike) interact with mitochondrial receptors, blunt MAVS/type-I interferon signalling, raise ROS, impair mitophagy, and promote apoptosis and mtDNA release as DAMPs. - Released mtDNA and mtROS activate NLRP3 inflammasome and cGAS-STING pathways, amplifying cytokine storm (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-18) and shifting metabolism toward glycolysis while suppressing OXPHOS and ATP production. - Specific mtDNA variants (e.g, 16223T and several East-Asian/Slovak haplotypes) associate with higher severity risk, others (7028C, 249delA, 16189T>C) appear protective. Additional variants link to cardiac, muscular, or neurological sequelae. - In PCC/LongC0VID persistent mitochondrial defects include reduced PBMC ATP, lower muscle complex I activity, altered fusion/fission proteins (OPA1/PGC1α down, DRP1/FIS1 up), and metabolic reprogramming toward fatty-acid oxidation with excess ROS and lactate. - These energy and inflammatory defects map onto fatigue, myopathy/cardiomyopathy, and cognitive/neurological symptoms. ➡️Vaccination or reinfection impact: This review contains no mention of vaccination, boosters, hybrid immunity, or reinfection impact. ➡️Importance of this review: It positions again mitochondria and mtDNA as a single convergent axis linking genetic susceptibility, viral immune evasion, acute hyperinflammation, and chronic multi-organ energy failure. That framing also suggests mitochondria-targeted strategies (CoQ10, MitoQ, NAC, exercise, omega-3s/B vitamins) as possible rational next steps and highlights the need for larger longitudinal genetic studies. ‼️So, this review of the available science underscores that SARSCoV2 does not merely infect cells, it systematically wrecks the organelles that produce energy and launch antiviral defenses, leaving a self-reinforcing loop of ROS, inflammasome activation, and ATP collapse that can persist as organ-level failure long after the virus itself is gone. #AvoidSars2 #AvoidReinfections https://www.scielo.br/j/gmb/a/cjNv4pwNPydrcQNtjF8mSVs/?lang=en
