Risk for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through allogeneic human tissue transplantation is unknown. To further evaluate the risk of virus transmission, tissues were obtained from deceased donors who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA via nasopharyngeal swab. This study evaluated an array of human tissues recovered for transplantation, including bone, tendon, skin, fascia lata, vascular tissues, and heart valves. Tissue samples and plasma or serum samples, if available, were tested for viral RNA (vRNA) using a real time PCR system for the presence of virus RNA. All samples were tested in quadruplicate for both subgenomic (sgRNA) and genomic (gRNA) RNA encoding the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid gene. Amplification of a cellular housekeeping gene served as the positive control for every sample. A total of 47 tissue samples from 17 donors were tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Four donors had plasma or serum available for paired testing. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was not detected from any tissue or plasma/serum sample tested. Based on these findings, risk of transmission through the transplantation of tissue types studied from SARS-CoV-2 infected donors is likely to be low.

通过同种异体人体组织移植传播 SARS-CoV-2 的风险尚不清楚。为了进一步评估病毒传播的风险，我们从通过鼻咽拭子检测出 SARS-CoV-2 RNA 呈阳性的已故捐赠者身上获取了组织。这项研究评估了一系列回收用于移植的人体组织，包括骨骼、肌腱、皮肤、阔筋膜、血管组织和心脏瓣膜。使用实时 PCR 系统检测组织样本和血浆或血清样本中是否存在病毒 RNA (vRNA)。所有样本均一式四份检测编码 SARS-CoV-2 核衣壳基因的亚基因组 (sgRNA) 和基因组 (gRNA) RNA。细胞管家基因的扩增作为每个样品的阳性对照。对来自 17 名捐赠者的总共 47 份组织样本进行了 SARS-CoV-2 RNA 检测。四名捐赠者的血浆或血清可用于配对测试。从任何测试的组织或血浆/血清样本中均未检测到 SARS-CoV-2 RNA。根据这些发现，通过移植 SARS-CoV-2 感染供体的组织类型进行传播的风险可能较低。