著者

Jun Tamiya Wakako Sakaguchi Kimiko Nakagawa Toshiharu Yamamoto Juri Saruta Nobuhisa Kubota Akira Kawata Iwao Hasegawa Nobushiro Hamada Keiichi Tsukinoki

出版者

JAPAN SOCIETY OF HISTOCHEMISTRY AND CYTOCHEMISTRY

雑誌

ACTA HISTOCHEMICA ET CYTOCHEMICA (ISSN:00445991)

巻号頁・発行日

pp.22-00089, (Released:2023-04-08)

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SARS-CoV-2 infects a variety of tissues, including the oral cavity. However, there are few reports examining the association of SARS-CoV-2 with tongue mucosal tissues with sticky tongue debris. This study investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 and its associated molecules by dissecting tongue tissue from autopsy specimens of 23 patients who died of COVID-19-related illness (pneumonia). Immunohistochemical staining, electron microscopy, and PCR analysis were performed on the tongue tissue specimens. The mucosal epithelium of the tongue formed a very thick keratinized with well-developed filiform papillae in all cases. ACE2 and TMPRSS2 were consistently co-expressed in all samples in the epithelium. The S-protein was strongly expressed in basal cells and the epithelial surface. S-protein-positive viral particles were detected in the tongue’s stratified squamous epithelium via an immunoelectron microscope. Based on PCR amplification of the N1 and N2 regions, the SARS-CoV-2 gene was detected on the tongue epithelium, tongue submucosa, and in tongue debris. This suggests that tongue debris, including the squamous epithelial tissue, could be a source of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva. Furthermore, removing tongue debris may decrease the amount of SARS-CoV-2 in the oral cavity.