PLoS ONE (Jan 2020)

ACE2 polymorphisms as potential players in COVID-19 outcome.

  • André Salim Khayat,
  • Paulo Pimentel de Assumpção,
  • Bruna Claudia Meireles Khayat,
  • Taíssa Maíra Thomaz Araújo,
  • Jéssica Almeida Batista-Gomes,
  • Luciana Carvalho Imbiriba,
  • Geraldo Ishak,
  • Paula Baraúna de Assumpção,
  • Fabiano Cordeiro Moreira,
  • Rommel Rodriguez Burbano,
  • André Ribeiro-Dos-Santos,
  • Ândrea Kelly Ribeiro-Dos-Santos,
  • Ney Pereira Carneiro Dos Santos,
  • Sidney Emmanuel Batista Dos Santos

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243887
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 12
p. e0243887

Abstract

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The clinical condition COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, was declared a pandemic by the WHO in March 2020. Currently, there are more than 5 million cases worldwide, and the pandemic has increased exponentially in many countries, with different incidences and death rates among regions/ethnicities and, intriguingly, between sexes. In addition to the many factors that can influence these discrepancies, we suggest a biological aspect, the genetic variation at the viral S protein receptor in human cells, ACE2 (angiotensin I-converting enzyme 2), which may contribute to the worse clinical outcome in males and in some regions worldwide. We performed exomics analysis in native and admixed South American populations, and we also conducted in silico genomics databank investigations in populations from other continents. Interestingly, at least ten polymorphisms in coding, noncoding and regulatory sites were found that can shed light on this issue and offer a plausible biological explanation for these epidemiological differences. In conclusion, there are ACE2 polymorphisms that could influence epidemiological discrepancies observed among ancestry and, moreover, between sexes.