SynthesisPLoS pathogens2020
On the whereabouts of SARS-CoV-2 in the human body: A systematic review.
Synthesis in PLoS pathogens, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 129 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
129 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 231 citations in OpenAlex.
- Thromboembolic risk in pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection - A systematic review.Taiwanese journal of obstetrics & gynecology · 2022Pooled it
- Mechanisms of antibody-dependent enhancement and its research progress in animal coronaviruses.Veterinary research · 2026Review
- Mild SARS-CoV-2 maternal infection in mice induces transient offspring neurodevelopmental aberrance.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Myocardial and Vascular Involvement in COVID-19 and Post-Vaccination States: Understanding Injury Pathways and Clinical Implications.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Post-Translational Modifications in Respiratory Virus Infection: Recent Insights into the Development of In Vitro Models.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Toxicity study of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein expressed on Bacillus subtilis spores.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- Do Long COVID and COVID Vaccine Side Effects Share Pathophysiological Picture and Biochemical Pathways?International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Variable rates of SARS-CoV-2 evolution in chronic infections.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Assessment of upper respiratory and gut bacterial microbiomes during COVID-19 infection in adults: potential aerodigestive transmission.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Neurological complications caused by SARS-CoV-2.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2024Review
- Multi-Organ Spread and Intra-Host Diversity of SARS-CoV-2 Support Viral Persistence, Adaptation, and a Mechanism That Increases Evolvability.Journal of medical virology · 2024Article
- Non-human primate model of long-COVID identifies immune associates of hyperglycemia.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Testing of tissue specimens obtained from SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal swab-positive donors.Cell and tissue banking · 2024Article
- Article
- Bulk and Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Elucidate the Etiology of Severe COVID-19.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Review
- Mutational signature dynamics indicate SARS-CoV-2's evolutionary capacity is driven by host antiviral molecules.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- SARS-CoV-2 mutant spectra as variant of concern nurseries: endless variation?Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Sarcopenia and Mortality in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Assessing Genomic Mutations in SARS-CoV-2: Potential Resistance to Antiviral Drugs in Viral Populations from Untreated COVID-19 Patients.Microorganisms · 2023Article
69 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Since SARS-CoV-2 appeared in the human population, the scientific community has scrambled to gather as much information as possible to find good strategies for the containment and treatment of this pandemic virus. Here, we performed a systematic review of the current (pre)published SARS-CoV-2 literature with a focus on the evidence concerning SARS-CoV-2 distribution in human tissues and viral shedding in body fluids. In addition, this evidence is aligned with published ACE2 entry-receptor (single cell) expression data across the human body to construct a viral distribution and ACE2 receptor body map. We highlight the broad organotropism of SARS-CoV-2, as many studies identified viral components (RNA, proteins) in multiple organs, including the pharynx, trachea, lungs, blood, heart, vessels, intestines, brain, male genitals and kidneys. This also implicates the presence of viral components in various body fluids such as mucus, saliva, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, semen and breast milk. The main SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor, ACE2, is expressed at different levels in multiple tissues throughout the human body, but its expression levels do not always correspond with SARS-CoV-2 detection, indicating that there is a complex interplay between virus and host. Together, these data shed new light on the current view of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and lay the foundation for better diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.