ArticleScientific reports2022
ACE2 protein expression in lung tissues of severe COVID-19 infection.
Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 87 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Genetic polymorphisms and expression of SARS-CoV-2 host entry genes associate with COVID-19 severity in an unvaccinated Moroccan cohort.BMC medical genomics · 2026Article
- COVID-19, the disease that changed the world.Medicine and pharmacy reports · 2026Review
- Expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, transmembrane serine protease 2, and sirtuin 1 proteins in lungs of different age groups.Jornal brasileiro de pneumologia : publicacao oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisilogia · 2026Article
- The Role of ACE2 in SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Pathogenesis, and Antiviral Interventions.Journal of medical virology · 2025Review
- The impact of diabetes and obesity on the severity and mortality of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders · 2025Review
- Expression of SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor ACE2 in human brain and its association with Alzheimer's disease and COVID-19.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Review
- Increased Cerebrospinal Fluid Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 Fragments as a Read-Out of Brain Infection in Patients With COVID-19 Encephalopathy.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2025Article
- The role of the P2X7 receptor in inactivated SARS-CoV-2-induced lung injury.Purinergic signalling · 2025Article
- County-level associations between drinking water PFAS contamination and COVID-19 mortality in the United States.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2025Article
- Orchestration of SARS-CoV-2 Nsp4 and host cell ESCRT proteins induces morphological changes of the endoplasmic reticulum.Molecular biology of the cell · 2025Article
- Bayesian Modeling of the Impact of HBOT on the Reduction in Cytokine Storms.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Role of microRNAs in immunoregulatory functions of epithelial cells.BMC immunology · 2024Review
- Elimination of olfactory sensory neurons by zinc sulfate inoculation prevents SARS-CoV-2 infection of the brain in K18-hACE2 transgenic mice.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Risk factors for severe outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 through the waves of the pandemic: Comparing patients with and without solid organ transplantation.Transplant infectious disease : an official journal of the Transplantation Society · 2024Article
- Hepatic angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 expression in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and in patients with fatal COVID-19.World journal of gastroenterology · 2024Article
- Evaluation of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), angiotensin II (Ang II), miR-141-3p, and miR-421 levels in SARS-CoV-2 patients: a case-control study.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- SARS-CoV-2-Related Olfactory Dysfunction: Autopsy Findings, Histopathology, and Evaluation of Viral RNA and ACE2 Expression in Olfactory Bulbs.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- COVID-19 and Alzheimer's disease: Impact of lockdown and other restrictive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.Biomolecules & biomedicine · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a key host protein by which severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) enters and multiplies within cells. The level of ACE2 expression in the lung is hypothesised to correlate with an increased risk of severe infection and complications in COrona VIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). To test this hypothesis, we compared the protein expression status of ACE2 by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in post-mortem lung samples of patients who died of severe COVID-19 and lung samples obtained from non-COVID-19 patients for other indications. IHC for CD61 and CD163 was performed for the assessment of platelet-rich microthrombi and macrophages, respectively. IHC for SARS-CoV-2 viral antigen was also performed. In a total of 55, 44 COVID-19 post-mortem lung samples were tested for ACE2, 36 for CD163, and 26 for CD61, compared to 15 non-covid 19 control lung sections. Quantification of immunostaining, random sampling, and correlation analysis were used to substantiate the morphologic findings. Our results show that ACE2 protein expression was significantly higher in COVID-19 post-mortem lung tissues than in controls, regardless of sample size. Histomorphology in COVID-19 lungs showed diffuse alveolar damage (DAD), acute bronchopneumonia, and acute lung injury with SARS-CoV-2 viral protein detected in a subset of cases. ACE2 expression levels were positively correlated with increased expression levels of CD61 and CD163. In conclusion, our results show significantly higher ACE2 protein expression in severe COVID-19 disease, correlating with increased macrophage infiltration and microthrombi, suggesting a pathobiological role in disease severity.
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Registered trials
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