Fig. 5.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and capsid proteins in organs other than the lung and skin. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was analyzed in the liver (panel A), heart (panel B), kidney (panel C) and spleen (not shown) in cases where a very high viral load was present in the lung (panels D and E). Note that either no or very rare (no more than 3+ cells/400× field) viral positive cells were present in these other organs (circles); the infected cells had the morphology of macrophages These same organs were interrogated for the ACE2 receptor on endothelial cells and either none were evident (panel F, spleen) or less than 10% of the endothelial cells expressed the viral receptor in these organs. Viral capsid protein was not evident in the spleen microvessels (panel G) and rarely present in the microvessels of other organs (kidney panel H, circle) where they did track with IL6 and caspase 3, data not shown.