Increased expression of ACE2, the SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor, in alveolar and bronchial epithelium of smokers and COPD subjects

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has been identified as the cell entry receptor used by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [1, 2]. Importantly, smokers and patients with COPD are at an increased risk of severe complications and a higher mortality upon SARS-CoV-2 infec...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe European respiratory journal Vol. 56; no. 2; p. 2002378
Main Authors Jacobs, Merel, Van Eeckhoutte, Hannelore P., Wijnant, Sara R.A., Janssens, Wim, Joos, Guy F., Brusselle, Guy G., Bracke, Ken R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England European Respiratory Society 01.08.2020
Subjects
Agora
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
Belgium
Betacoronavirus - metabolism
Biomarkers - blood
Biopsy, Needle
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
In Vitro Techniques
Linear Models
Male
Multivariate Analysis
Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A - metabolism
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - blood
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - epidemiology
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - pathology
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods
Respiratory Mucosa - metabolism
Respiratory Mucosa - pathology
RNA, Messenger - blood
SARS-CoV-2
Sensitivity and Specificity
Smoking - blood
Smoking - epidemiology
Specimen Handling
Statistics, Nonparametric
Belgium
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has been identified as the cell entry receptor used by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [1, 2]. Importantly, smokers and patients with COPD are at an increased risk of severe complications and a higher mortality upon SARS-CoV-2 infection [3]. We hypothesised that ACE2 expression is increased in lungs of smokers and patients with COPD, which may at least partially explain their higher risk of a more severe course of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Therefore, we aimed to investigate the expression of ACE2 on both mRNA and protein level in a large number of lung tissue specimens of well-phenotyped subjects, including never-smokers, current smokers without airflow limitation, and patients with COPD. This study demonstrates increased protein levels of ACE2 in alveolar and bronchial epithelium of smokers and subjects with COPD, which might facilitate host cell entry of SARS-CoV-2 https://bit.ly/2ZazOrd
Bibliography:content type line 23
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Correspondence-1
ISSN:0903-1936
1399-3003
1399-3003
DOI:10.1183/13993003.02378-2020