ACE2 and TMPRSS2 variants and expression as candidates to sex and country differences in COVID-19 severity in Italy
Rosanna Asselta, Elvezia Maria Paraboschi, Alberto Mantovani, Stefano Duga, Rosanna Asselta, Elvezia Maria Paraboschi, Alberto Mantovani, Stefano Duga
Abstract
As the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) progresses, prognostic markers for early identification of high-risk individuals are an urgent medical need. Italy has one of the highest numbers of SARS-CoV-2-related deaths and one of the highest mortality rates. Worldwide, a more severe course of COVID-19 is associated with older age, comorbidities, and male sex. Hence, we searched for possible genetic components of COVID-19 severity among Italians by looking at expression levels and variants in ACE2 and TMPRSS2 genes, crucial for viral infection.Exome and SNP-array data from a large Italian cohort were used to compare the rare-variants burden and polymorphisms frequency with Europeans and East Asians. Moreover, we looked into gene expression databases to check for sex-unbalanced expression.While we found no significant evidence that ACE2 is associated with disease severity/sex bias, TMPRSS2 levels and genetic variants proved to be possible candidate disease modulators, prompting for rapid experimental validations on large patient cohorts.
Keywords: ACE2; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; TMPRSS2; genetic variants.
Conflict of interest statement
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: No conflicts of interest to disclose
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References
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