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. 2021 Sep 14;6(2):270–280. doi: 10.1002/hep4.1820

FIG. 3.

FIG. 3

ACE2 is present but SARS‐CoV‐2 Spike protein is not detected in livers of patients with COVID‐19. (A) Immunohistochemistry from representative liver specimens shows that expression of ACE2, the receptor for SARS‐CoV‐2, is increased in our cohort of COVID‐19 liver samples (left), relative to a histologically normal control (right). Scale bar, 20 μm. (B) Quantitative analysis shows that ACE2 expression is increased in both hepatocytes and cholangiocytes; *P < 0.0001. Measurements were made in a blinded fashion in 18‐21 microscopic fields from each of 5 separate patients with COVID‐19 and in nine fields from each of 3 separate controls. (C) Immunohistochemistry shows absence of SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein in a representative liver sample of a patient with COVID‐19 patient. Scale bar, 100 μm. In contrast, staining was detected in alveolar cells (arrows) in a lung sample from one of the patients, which was used as a positive control (right). Scale bar, 20 μm.