| Popis: |
Background: Angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) and Transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) are key proteins that serve as receptors and co-receptor in the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infective process, which could affect host susceptibility or severity in response to infection. We evaluated the expression levels of above genes to consider the probable relationship with age, sex, and respiratory distress. Method and Result: Here, in a case-control study, we compared the expression levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 genes in nasopharyngeal swab samples of one hundred Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) patients against 50 negative samples. In the positive group, 50 patients selected with mild symptoms and fifty patients were included in the severe / critically ill subgroup We determine the expression levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 by Quantitative Real-Time Reverse Transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and statistical analyzes were implemented to consider the probable relationship between the expression levels of the above genes with sdisease severity, age, and sex. Our results showed ACE2 was down regulated in laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients comparing normal control group. In addition, considerable downregulation of ACE2 levels was detected in the severe subgroup compared to mild patients. ACE2 mRNA levels were negatively correlated to age, while there was no significant association between the expression levels of the ACE2 and TMPRSS2 genes and sex. No association was found between the expression levels of TMPRSS2 and the clinical findings of the patients. Conclusion: This data indicate there is a probable prognostic value of ACE2 expression in the follow-up of the COVID-19 patients. |
