Vascular Inflammation in Lungs of Patients with Fatal Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Possible Role for the NLRP3 Inflammasome

BACKGROUND: Hyperinflammation is a key event that occurs with SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the lung, hyperinflammation leads to structural damage to tissue. To date, numerous lung histological studies have shown extensive alveolar damage, but there is scarce documentation of vascular inflammation in postmortem lung tissue. METHODS: Lung sections from 8 COVID-19 affected and 11 non-COVID-19 subjects [of which 8 were acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS) affected and 3 were from subjects with non-respiratory diseases] were stained for H & E to ascertain histopathological features including presence of thrombi/microthrombi. Inflammation along the vessel wall was also monitored by quantification of the expression of moieties of the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway (NLRP3 and caspase-1). RESULTS: In lungs from “fatal COVID-19”, vascular changes in the form of microthrombi in small vessels, arterial thrombosis, and organization were extensive as compared to lungs from “non-COVID-19 non respiratory disease” affected subjects. The NLRP3 pathway components were significantly higher in lungs from COVID-19 subjects as compared to non-COVID-19 fatal cases without respiratory disease. No significant differences were observed between COVID-19 lungs and non-COVID-19 ARDS lungs. CONCLUSION: We posit that inflammasome formation along the vessel wall is a characteristic of lung inflammation that accompanies COVID-19. Thus, the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway seems to be probable candidate that drives amplification of inflammation post SARS-CoV-2 infection.