Extract
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic [1]. COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 displays symptoms ranging from mild to severe (pneumonia) that can lead to death in some individuals [2–4]. As of March 24, 2020, there have been 422 566 cases of COVID-19 worldwide and 18 887 deaths [5]. SARS-CoV-2 uses the angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE-2) as the cellular entry receptor [6]. While the virus can infect individuals of any age, to date, most of the severe cases have been described in those over the age of 55 years and with significant co-morbidities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [7]. Here, we determined whether patients with COPD have increased expression of ACE-2 in bronchial epithelial cells in lower respiratory tract.
Abstract
Smokers and individuals with COPD have increased airway expression of ACE-2, which is the entry receptor for the COVID-19 virus. This may explain the increased risk of severe COVID-19 in these subpopulations and highlight importance of smoking cessation.
Footnotes
Support statement: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the British Columbia Lung Association, and de Lazzari Family Chair at HLI. JML is supported by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR)/Providence Health Care Health Professional Investigator (HPI) Award and by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)/AstraZeneca Early Career Investigator Award. TLH is supported by the MSFHR scholar and CIHR Early Career Investigator awards. DD is supported by the MSFHR/PHC HPI Award. DDS is supported by a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in COPD and the de Lazzari Family Chair at HLI. Canadian Institutes of Health Research; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000024; Grant: FDN 332196.
Data availability: Raw data available from authors upon request. The data are also posted on dbGAP.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Leung has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Ms. Yang has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Tam has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Shaipanich has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Hackett has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Singhera has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Dorschied has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Sin reports grants from Merck, personal fees from Sanofi-Aventis, personal fees from Regeneron, grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca, personal fees from Novartis, outside the submitted work.
- Received March 2, 2020.
- Accepted March 25, 2020.
- Copyright ©ERS 2020
This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence 4.0.