ArticleMedical hypotheses2021
Highly expressed ACE-2 receptors during pregnancy: A protective factor for SARS-COV-2 infection?
Article in Medical hypotheses, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mendelian randomization study: investigating the causal impact of Covid-19 on adverse pregnancy outcomes.Virology journal · 2026Article
- Review
- Neonatal outcomes of maternal prenatal coronavirus infection.Pediatric research · 2024Review
- Article
- Outcome of Newborns with Confirmed or Possible SARS-CoV-2 Vertical Infection-A Scoping Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- COVID-19 Infection in Pregnancy: Obstetrical Risk Factors and Neonatal Outcomes-A Monocentric, Single-Cohort Study.Vaccines · 2022Article
- COVID-19 and Pregnancy.Discoveries (Craiova, Romania)Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
While previous viral pandemics showed that pregnancy was a risk factor for susceptibility and adverse outcomes, current evidence is conflicting whether SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy is more severe than in the general population, with relatively low maternal and fetal/neonatal mortality rates. SARS-CoV-2 is known to enter host cells via the ACE-2 receptors, competitively occupying their binding sites. In theory, viral invasion can lead to a reduction in available ACE-2 receptors and consequently an unbalanced regulation between the ACE-AngII-AT1 axis and the ACE-2-Ang-(1-7)-MAS axis, thus enhancing pathological vasoconstriction, fibrosis, inflammation and thrombotic processes. We hypothesize that the normal pregnant state of highly expressed ACE-2 receptors leads to higher Ang-(1-7) levels and consequently more vasodilation and anti-inflammatory response to SARS-COV-2 infection. We suggest that this up-regulation of ACE-2 receptors in human gestation may actually be clinically protective and propose a potential research line to investigate this hypothesis, which may lead to future novel therapeutics.
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Registered trials
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