Tue W Kragstrup1,2, Helene Søgaard Singh1, Ida Grundberg3, Ane Langkilde-Lauesen Nielsen1,4, Felice Rivellese5, Arnav Mehta6,7, Marcia B Goldberg8,9, Michael R Filbin10, Per Qvist1,11,12, Bo Martin Bibby13. 1. Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. 2. Department of Rheumatology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark. 3. Olink Proteomics, Uppsala, Sweden. 4. Randers Regional Hospital, Randers, Denmark. 5. Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom. 6. Department of Medical Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. 7. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America. 8. Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. 9. Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. 10. Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. 11. The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark. 12. Centre for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, CGPM, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. 13. Department of Biostatistics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Abstract
AIMS: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) binds to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) enabling entrance of the virus into cells and causing the infection termed coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). Here, we investigate associations between plasma ACE2 and outcome of COVID-19. METHODS AND RESULTS: This analysis used data from a large longitudinal study of 306 COVID-19 positive patients and 78 COVID-19 negative patients (MGH Emergency Department COVID-19 Cohort). Comprehensive clinical data were collected on this cohort, including 28-day outcomes. The samples were run on the Olink® Explore 1536 platform which includes measurement of the ACE2 protein. High admission plasma ACE2 in COVID-19 patients was associated with increased maximal illness severity within 28 days with OR = 1.8, 95%-CI: 1.4-2.3 (P < 0.0001). Plasma ACE2 was significantly higher in COVID-19 patients with hypertension compared with patients without hypertension (P = 0.0045). Circulating ACE2 was also significantly higher in COVID-19 patients with pre-existing heart conditions and kidney disease compared with patients without these pre-existing conditions (P = 0.0363 and P = 0.0303, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that measuring plasma ACE2 is potentially valuable in predicting COVID-19 outcomes. Further, ACE2 could be a link between COVID-19 illness severity and its established risk factors hypertension, pre-existing heart disease and pre-existing kidney disease.
AIMS: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) binds to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) enabling entrance of the virus into cells and causing the infection termed coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). Here, we investigate associations between plasma ACE2 and outcome of COVID-19. METHODS AND RESULTS: This analysis used data from a large longitudinal study of 306 COVID-19 positive patients and 78 COVID-19 negative patients (MGH Emergency Department COVID-19 Cohort). Comprehensive clinical data were collected on this cohort, including 28-day outcomes. The samples were run on the Olink® Explore 1536 platform which includes measurement of the ACE2 protein. High admission plasma ACE2 in COVID-19patients was associated with increased maximal illness severity within 28 days with OR = 1.8, 95%-CI: 1.4-2.3 (P < 0.0001). Plasma ACE2 was significantly higher in COVID-19patients with hypertension compared with patients without hypertension (P = 0.0045). Circulating ACE2 was also significantly higher in COVID-19patients with pre-existing heart conditions and kidney disease compared with patients without these pre-existing conditions (P = 0.0363 and P = 0.0303, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that measuring plasma ACE2 is potentially valuable in predicting COVID-19 outcomes. Further, ACE2 could be a link between COVID-19 illness severity and its established risk factors hypertension, pre-existing heart disease and pre-existing kidney disease.
Authors: Mauro G Silva; Gerardo R Corradi; Juan I Pérez Duhalde; Myriam Nuñez; Eliana M Cela; Daniel H Gonzales Maglio; Ana Brizzio; Martin R Salazar; Walter G Espeche; Mariela M Gironacci Journal: Biomed Pharmacother Date: 2022-05-27 Impact factor: 7.419