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Article
Mohammad Hasan
Sidra Medical and Research Center
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4658-7949
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There is accumulating evidence that the lower levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) in the nasal epithelium of children may be related to a lower incidence of COVID-19 compared to adults. However, no direct evidence is available to support this hypothesis. In this study, we compared the transcript levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in nasopharyngeal swabs (n=207) from children and adult members within COVID-19-exposed families and assessed their association with SARS-CoV-2 infection status. The expression of both genes was higher in adults compared to the children (n=115 adults and 92 children, p<0.05), but was not significantly different between COVID-19 positive and negative patients of all ages or within the same age groups. Using paired data, expression of both genes was significantly higher in COVID-19 positive adults compared to COVID-19 negative children (n=47 pairs; p<0.001) within the same families. ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression is positively associated OR:1.16(1.06-1.3) and 1.14(1.04-1.26) for ACE2 and TMPRSS2, respectively, p<0.001) with SARS-CoV-2 infection status in the sub-group of families with COVID-19 positive adults and COVID-19 negative children, suggesting that children with lower levels of nasal ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are more likely to remain COVID-19 negative despite being exposed to a COVID-19-positive adult family member.
Keywords
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, nasopharyngeal, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2, Transmembrane Serine Protease 2
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This is a preprint. It has not completed peer review.
Article
Mohammad Hasan
Sidra Medical and Research Center
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4658-7949
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 09 Mar, 2021
No community comments so far
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
There is accumulating evidence that the lower levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) in the nasal epithelium of children may be related to a lower incidence of COVID-19 compared to adults. However, no direct evidence is available to support this hypothesis. In this study, we compared the transcript levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in nasopharyngeal swabs (n=207) from children and adult members within COVID-19-exposed families and assessed their association with SARS-CoV-2 infection status. The expression of both genes was higher in adults compared to the children (n=115 adults and 92 children, p<0.05), but was not significantly different between COVID-19 positive and negative patients of all ages or within the same age groups. Using paired data, expression of both genes was significantly higher in COVID-19 positive adults compared to COVID-19 negative children (n=47 pairs; p<0.001) within the same families. ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression is positively associated OR:1.16(1.06-1.3) and 1.14(1.04-1.26) for ACE2 and TMPRSS2, respectively, p<0.001) with SARS-CoV-2 infection status in the sub-group of families with COVID-19 positive adults and COVID-19 negative children, suggesting that children with lower levels of nasal ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are more likely to remain COVID-19 negative despite being exposed to a COVID-19-positive adult family member.
Figure 1
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