Presenter: Vindhya Basetty¹

¹Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, AL 36849, USA

Background: COVID-19 is a respiratory disease cause by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).  SARS-CoV-2 not only infects the respiratory system, but the strain has direct and indirect effects on multiple organ systems, one being the musculoskeletal system.  In fact, myalgias and generalized weakness have been reported to occur in one-quarter to one-half of symptomatic COVID-19 patients.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the most common disease states of the musculoskeletal system include osteoarthritis, gout, carpal tunnel syndrome, myasthenia gravis, Lambert-Eaton syndrome, sarcopenia, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Aim: Therefore, in the current study, we examined the effects of COVID-19 on the musculoskeletal system.

Method: Thus, PubMed, Scopus, and google scholar databases were searched up to May 2021, using suitable keywords.  Individual and pooled prevalence rates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) will be calculated using the fixed- or random-effects model as appropriate.  Identification of the independent parameters based on age, sex, and illness to understand the effect of SARS-Cov-2 on the different disease states of the musculoskeletal system will be carried out using the fixed- and random-effects meta-analysis model as appropriate.

Result and Discussion: SARS-CoV-2 enter the cells via ACE2 receptor using the serine protease TMPRSS2.  The receptor binding leads to the release of the viral RNA into the cytoplasm, which ultimately leads to the release of virions from infected cells that interact with human cellular proteins.  The severely disrupted cellular functions can amplify local inflammation which can impact the musculoskeletal system. With COVID-19 being a relatively new virus, further studies need to be continued to understand how COVID-19 impacts the musculoskeletal system.