Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Capturing SARS-CoV-2 in the Lung Tissue (Alveoli and Parenchyma) Cause Microthrombi - A Strategy to Eliminate SARS-CoV-2 From the Circulation as Degraded Fibrin Clots.

Background: It has been thought that neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and thrombosis exacerbate COVID-19, but, on the other hand, NETs are an important player in innate immunity. The precise roles of NETs and thrombosis in the course of COVID-19 have not been fully elucidated.

Methods and results: The roles were investigated in the literature and a new theory was formulated. When neutrophils encounter SARS-CoV-2 in the lung tissue, they undergo NETosis and capture the virus. This capture is triggered by electrostatic interaction between histones in NETs and SARS-CoV-2; histones are highly positively charged, and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, have a net negative charge under physiological pH. NETs that capture SARS-CoV-2 fall into alveolar capillaries through the collapsed endothelium to spare the lung tissue from the toxicity of NETs. NETs in the microvessels cause microthrombosis; positively charged histones induce the aggregation of negatively charged platelets, which leads to microthrombi. Microthrombi engulfing SARS-CoV-2 are consolidated into fibrin clots, which are eventually degraded by increased fibrinolysis and eliminated from the circulation.

Conclusions: This novel theory suggests that NETosis and microthrombosis are phenomena inevitably elicited in COVID-19, and in combination they are a system newly termed "NETombosis". Undegraded fibrin clots remaining in the microcirculation may be the cause of the sequelae, because they cause long-lasting circulatory failure in various organs.