Garvin MR, et al. Elife 2020.
ABSTRACT
Neither the disease mechanism nor treatments for COVID-19 are currently known. Here we present a novel molecular mechanism for COVID-19 that provides therapeutic intervention points that can be addressed with existing FDA-approved pharmaceuticals. The entry point for the virus is ACE2, which is a component of the counteracting hypotensive axis of RAS, that produces the nonapeptide angiotensin1-9 from angiotensin I. Bradykinin is a potent, but often forgotten, part of the vasopressor system that induces hypotension and vasodilation 1, and is regulated by ACE and enhanced by angiotensin1-92. Here we perform a completely new analysis on gene expression data from cells of bronchoalveolar lavage samples from COVID-19 patients that were used to sequence the virus, but the host information was discarded 3. Comparison with lavage samples from controls identify a critical imbalance in RAS represented by decreased expression of ACE in combination with increases in ACE2, renin (REN) , angiotensin (AGT), key RAS receptors (AGTR2, AGTR1), kinogen (KNG) and the kallikrein enzymes (KLKB1, many of KLK-1-15) that activate it, and both bradykinin receptors (BDKRB1, BDKRB2). This very atypical pattern of the RAS is predicted to elevate bradykinin levels in multiple tissues and systems that will likely cause increases in vascular dilation, vascular permeability and hypotension. These bradykinin-driven outcomes explain many of the symptoms being observed in COVID-19.
PMID:32633718 | DOI:10.7554/eLife.59177