Evidence-Based Considerations Exploring Relations between SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic and Air Pollution: Involvement of PM2.5-Mediated Up-Regulation of the Viral Receptor ACE-2
Evidence-Based Considerations Exploring Relations between SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic and Air Pollution: Involvement of PM2.5-Mediated Up-Regulation of the Viral Receptor ACE-2
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DOI：
10.3390/ijerph17155573
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发表时间：
2020-08-01
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Simmaco, Maurizio
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Borro, Marina;Di Girolamo, Paolo;Simmaco, Maurizio
COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2大流行对全球卫生、社会和经济系统造成了打击，对科学家来说是一个公开的挑战--应对COVID-19的高度个体间变异性，对政策制定者来说也是一个公开的挑战--应对责任了解影响不同地理区域严重程度的环境因素。空气污染已被警告是导致SARS-CoV-2差异传播的一个可改变因素，但这种现象背后的生物机制仍然未知。通过相关性分析研究了意大利110个省的空气质量和COVID-19流行病学数据，以评估2020年2月20日至3月31日期间颗粒物（PM）（2. 5）浓度与COVID-19发病率、死亡率和病死率风险之间的关联。对编码SARS-CoV-2细胞受体血管紧张素转换酶2（ACE-2）的DNA序列进行生物信息学分析，以确定介导细胞对污染物损伤反应的转录因子的共有基序。PM2.5浓度与COVID-19发病率（r = 0.67，p < 0.0001）、病死率（r = 0.65，p < 0.0001）和病死率（r = 0.7，p < 0.0001）呈正相关。我们的研究结果证实了空气污染与SARS-CoV-2感染率和结果之间的联系，并支持污染诱导的ACE-2在人类气道上的过度表达可能有利于SARS-CoV-2感染性的假设。
The COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 pandemic struck health, social and economic systems worldwide, and represents an open challenge for scientists -coping with the high inter-individual variability of COVID-19, and for policy makers -coping with the responsibility to understand environmental factors affecting its severity across different geographical areas. Air pollution has been warned of as a modifiable factor contributing to differential SARS-CoV-2 spread but the biological mechanisms underlying the phenomenon are still unknown. Air quality and COVID-19 epidemiological data from 110 Italian provinces were studied by correlation analysis, to evaluate the association between particulate matter (PM)(2.5)concentrations and incidence, mortality rate and case fatality risk of COVID-19 in the period 20 February-31 March 2020. Bioinformatic analysis of the DNA sequence encoding the SARS-CoV-2 cell receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) was performed to identify consensus motifs for transcription factors mediating cellular response to pollutant insult. Positive correlations between PM(2.5)levels and the incidence (r = 0.67,p< 0.0001), the mortality rate (r = 0.65,p< 0.0001) and the case fatality rate (r = 0.7,p< 0.0001) of COVID-19 were found. The bioinformatic analysis of the ACE-2 gene identified nine putative consensus motifs for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). Our results confirm the supposed link between air pollution and the rate and outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection and support the hypothesis that pollution-induced over-expression of ACE-2 on human airways may favor SARS-CoV-2 infectivity.