MYOCARDITIS AS A PREVALENT CARDIOVASCULAR COMPLICATION IN OMICRON PATIENTS

Abstract

Ever since the first outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in late December 2019 in China, it has undergone a significant number of mutations and manifested itself in different variants worldwide. One of the latest variants, namely the Omicron variant has proved to possess novel characteristics including a shift in its entry pathway. Studies have shown that the Omicron variant has adapted to enter host tissue more efficiently through endosomal pathway rather than cell fusion as shown in its predecessors. As far as coronaviruses are concerned, there are several modes of entry for endosomal pathway including the caveolae formation pathway which is mediated by proteins called caveolins. One of the caveolins in particular is found abundantly in cardiomyocytes, thus posing as a higher risk for the Omicron variant to directly invade the heart tissue.