Genetic and Cell biology Discriminants of Sars-CoV2 Infection and Susceptibility to Covid-19 pulmonary complication

Abstract

The agent of Covid19, Sars-CoV-2 has caused thousands of fatalities worldwide and overshadowed the number of deaths of other previous coronavirus outbreaks (Sars-CoV1 2002 and MERS-CoV 2012). Although the new coronavirus pathogenicity is actively under investigation, part of its infectious behavior can be linked to its higher binding affinity to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in the respiratory tracts. However, the expression of ACE2 per se may not be sufficient to justify the individual variability observed among affected patients in terms of clinical outcome in apparently non-immune depressed, non-elders subjects. The present update provides an overview of the most recent scientific findings related to genetic factors involved in the Sars-CoV-2 infectious process and their potential role in affecting the virus pathogenicity. The present update can provide valuable hints towards developing a predictive screening/susceptibility profile testing on individuals not yet infected and/or in non symptomatic positive subjects towards managing the current morbidity and mortality risk and establishing personalized intervention protocols for the early treatment of the Sars-CoV-2-associated life-threatening pulmonary complication.