{"doi":"10.1101/2023.08.29.555368","title":"SARS-CoV-2 RNA Persists in the Central Nervous System of Non-Human Primates Despite Clinical Recovery","abstract":"Abstract Adverse neurological and psychiatric outcomes, collectively termed the post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), persist in adults clinically recovered from COVID-19. Effective therapeutic interventions are fundamental to reducing the burden of PASC, necessitating an investigation of the pathophysiology underlying the debilitating neurological symptoms associated with the condition. Herein, eight non-human primates (Wild-Caught African Green Monkeys, n =4; Indian Rhesus Macaques, n =4) were inoculated with the SARS-CoV-2 isolate USA-WA1/2020 by either small particle aerosol or via multiple routes. At necropsy, tissue from the olfactory epithelium and pyriform cortex/amygdala of SARS-CoV-2 infected non-human primates were collected for ribonucleic acid in situ hybridization (i.e., RNAscope). First, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) mRNA are downregulated in the pyriform cortex/amygdala of non-human primates clinically recovered from SARS-CoV-2 inoculation relative to wildtype controls. Second, abundant SARS-CoV-2 mRNA was detected in clinically recovered non-human primates; mRNA which is predominantly harbored in pericytes. Collectively, examination of post-mortem pyriform cortex/amygdala brain tissue of non-human primates clinically recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection revealed two early pathophysiological mechanisms potentially underlying PASC. Indeed, therapeutic interventions targeting the downregulation of ACE2, decreased expression of TMPRSS2, and/or persistent infection of pericytes in the central nervous system may effectively mitigate the debilitating symptoms of PASC.","journal":"bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)","year":2023,"id":400601,"datarank":0.10397207708399181,"base_score":0.6931471805599453,"endowment":0.6931471805599453,"self_citation_contribution":0.10397207708399181,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.10397207708399181,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":1,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9625,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":576864,"name":"Kristen A. McLaurin","orcid":"0000-0001-7816-1806","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":576866,"name":"Charles F. Mactutus","orcid":"0000-0002-6508-1329","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":237299,"name":"Jay Rappaport","orcid":"0000-0001-7916-3571","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":237296,"name":"Prasun K. Datta","orcid":"0000-0001-5133-253X","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":576867,"name":"Rosemarie M. Booze","orcid":"0000-0003-3908-8313","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":576863,"name":"Hailong Li","orcid":"0000-0003-0292-6774","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":10,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-19T01:20:04.010538Z","pmid":"37693534","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}