ACE II RECEPTOR GENE POLYMORPHISM, QUANTITATIVE IMMUNOLOGICAL DETECTION OF ACE II RECEPTORS AND MICRONUTRIENTS ASSOCIATION WITH HOSPITAL ACQUIRED COVID-19 PATIENTS

The outburst of the immensely communicable COVID-19 has proposed a consequential challenge to the world’s health, particularly for those who are already countering any disease and are thus immunocompromised. COVID-19 uses human ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2), an epithelial cell of the lungs with receptors, to gain entry into human cells, which is the first step of viral infection. In this study, we have evaluated the levels of ACE2 in serum and its gene expression to confirm that high ACE2 levels and its gene polymorphism could be risk factors for COVID-19, or those patients, who were COVID-positive and immunocompromised, have more ACE2 levels in comparison to non-COVID-patients with same population. Secondly, we assessed the levels of micronutrients, which showed the risk factors for COVID-19. Our data revealed that the gene expression of the ACE2 enzyme and its genotype G8790A polymorphism are associated with the progression of the disease. The levels of micronutrients were also found to be linked with COVID-19 progression in immunocompromised patients. The findings of the study have suggested that if levels of ACE2 enzyme and micronutrients are controlled, then the progression of the disease can be decreased