ArticleJournal of medical virology2020
Expression of the COVID-19 receptor ACE2 in the human conjunctiva.
Article in Journal of medical virology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 133 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ophthalmology-focused publications and findings on COVID-19: A systematic review.European journal of ophthalmology · 2021Pooled it
- An Eye on COVID-19: A Meta-analysis of Positive Conjunctival Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction and SARS-CoV-2 Conjunctivitis Prevalence.Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry · 2021Pooled it
- Time-series analysis of pollen concentration effects on allergic conjunctivitis healthcare visits in Beijing, 2023-2024.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- External Ocular Manifestations among Patients Diagnosed with Coronavirus Disease 2019 in a Referral Center in the Philippines.Acta medica Philippina · 2026Article
- Identification of Natural Compounds as Potential COVID-19 Main Protease (Mpro) Inhibitors: A Comprehensive Study andCurrent pharmaceutical design · 2025Review
- COVID-19's effects on microvascular structure in a healthy retina: an OCTA study.International journal of ophthalmology · 2025Article
- Stability, homogeneity and measurement uncertainty estimation of PVP-I solutions for the application on oro and nasopharynx against SARS-CoV-2.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Influence of Organ Culture on the Characteristics of the Human Limbal Stem Cell Niche.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- [Epidemiological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on enucleation cases in Germany].Die Ophthalmologie · 2023Article
- Roles of the ACE/Ang II/AT1R pathway, cytokine release, and alteration of tight junctions in COVID-19 pathogenesis.Tissue barriers · 2023Article
- In Silico Studies of Phytoconstituents from Piper longum and Ocimum sanctum as ACE2 and TMRSS2 Inhibitors: Strategies to Combat COVID-19.Applied biochemistry and biotechnology · 2023Article
- The Latest Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of COVID-19 on Non-Lung Organs.Brain sciences · 2023Review
- Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 may cause liver injuryWorld journal of virology · 2023Review
- The occurrence of acute primary angle closure triggered, aggravated, and accelerated by COVID-19 infection: retrospective observational study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Observational
- Haplotypic variants of COVID-19 related genes are associated with blood pressure and metabolites levels.Journal of medical virology · 2023Article
- Web-based gene expression analysis-paving the way to decode healthy and diseased ocular tissue.Die Ophthalmologie · 2023Review
- Exposure to a mixture of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances modulates pulmonary expression of ACE2 and circulating hormones and cytokines.Toxicology and applied pharmacology · 2022Article
- Article
- [Ocular manifestations in patients with COVID-19].Die Ophthalmologie · 2022Article
- P-Cadherin Is Expressed by Epithelial Progenitor Cells and Melanocytes in the Human Corneal Limbus.Cells · 2022Article
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 is assumed to use angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and other auxiliary proteins for cell entry. Recent studies have described conjunctival congestion in 0.8% of patients with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), and there has been speculation that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted through the conjunctiva. However, it is currently unclear whether conjunctival epithelial cells express ACE2 and its cofactors. In this study, a total of 38 conjunctival samples from 38 patients, including 12 healthy conjunctivas, 12 melanomas, seven squamous cell carcinomas, and seven papilloma samples, were analyzed using high-throughput RNA sequencing to assess messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 and its cofactors including TMPRSS2, ANPEP, DPP4, and ENPEP. ACE2 protein expression was assessed in eight healthy conjunctival samples using immunohistochemistry. Our results show that the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 is not substantially expressed in conjunctival samples on the mRNA (median: 0.0 transcripts per million [TPM], min: 0.0 TPM, max: 1.7 TPM) and protein levels. Similar results were obtained for the transcription of other auxiliary molecules. In conclusion, this study finds no evidence for a significant expression of ACE2 and its auxiliary mediators for cell entry in conjunctival samples, making conjunctival infection with SARS-CoV-2 via these mediators unlikely.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.