The Association Between Genetic Variants in ACE1and ACE2 Genes with Susceptibility to COVID-19 Infection.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors facilitate the entry of the causative virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) into target cells. Some ACE gene variants have been suggested to be involved in COVID-19 pathogenesis. So, the aim was to assess the association between ACE1 rs4646994 and ACE2 rs2285666 genes polymorphisms and the susceptibility and severity of COVID-19. This case-control study was conducted on 197 patients with COVID-19 and 197 healthy controls. ACE-1 insertion/deletion (I/D) (rs4646994) and ACE2 rs2285666 genes polymorphisms were determined by the amplification refractory mutation system- polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) technique. The DD genotype of ACE1 I/D polymorphism was associated with increased susceptibility to COVID-19 infection (p = 0.012), whereas the ID genotype of this polymorphism was associated with decreased susceptibility (p = 0.003) (significance level = 0.017). There was no significant association in allele and genotype distribution of ACE2 rs2285666 polymorphism between cases and controls. The ACE1 I/D polymorphism may be considered as a risk factor for COVID-19 susceptibility.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethical Approval: The Ethics Committee of Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran approved the study (Ethical code: IR.BUMS.REC.1399.060). Consent to Participate: A written informed consent was obtained from all participants in this study. Consent for Publication: Not applicable. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
(© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)