Role of ACE2 polymorphism in COVID-19: Impact of age

Abstract

More than 2 million people have died as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a counter-regulatory enzyme that converts angiotensin-2 to Ang-(1-7) form in the renin-angiotensin system. Several studies have been analyzed the correlation between ACE2 and COVID-19. Indeed, ACE2/Ang (1-7) system protects the lung against acute respiratory distress syndrome by its anti-inflammatory/anti-oxidant function. However, SARS-Cov-2 can use ACE2 for host cell entry. Expression of ACE2 can be altered by several factors, including hypertension, diabetes and obesity, which also could increase the severity of COVID-19 infection. Besides, since androgens increase the expression of ACE-2, males are at higher risks of COVID-19 infection. Although reported statistics showed a significantly different infection risks of COVID-19 between adults and children, the reason behind the different responses is still unclear. This review proposes the effect of ACE polymorphism on the severity of SARS-COV-2 induced pneumonia. The previous meta-analysis regarding the effect of ACE polymorphism on the severity of pneumonia showed that polymorphism only affects the adult's illness severity and not the children. Two recent meta-analyses examined the effect of ACE polymorphism on the prevalence and mortality rate of COVID-19 and reported contradicting results. Our opinion paper suggests that the effect of ACE polymorphism on the severity of COVID-19 depends on the patients age, same as of the pneumonia.