Association of ACE1 I/D polymorphism and susceptibility to COVID-19 in Egyptian children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Given the sparse data on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and its biological effector molecules ACE1 and ACE2 in pediatric COVID-19 cases, we investigated whether the ACE1 insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism could be a genetic marker for susceptibility to COVID-19 in Egyptian children and adolescents. METHODS: This was a case-control study included four hundred sixty patients diagnosed with COVID-19, and 460 well-matched healthy control children and adolescents. The I/D polymorphism (rs1799752) in the ACE1 gene was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), meanwhile the ACE serum concentrations were assessed by ELISA. RESULTS: The ACE1 D/D genotype and Deletion allele were significantly more represented in patients with COVID-19 compared to the control group (55% vs. 28%; OR = 2.4; [95% CI: 1.46-3.95]; for the DD genotype; P = 0.002) and (68% vs. 52.5%; OR: 1.93; [95% CI: 1.49-2.5] for the D allele; P = 0.032). The presence of ACE1 D/D genotype was an independent risk factor for severe COVID-19 among studied patients (adjusted OR: 2.6; [95% CI: 1.6-9.7]; P < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: The ACE1 insertion/deletion polymorphism may confer susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in Egyptian children and adolescents. IMPACT: Recent studies suggested a crucial role of renin-angiotensin system and its biological effector molecules ACE1 and ACE2 in the pathogenesis and progression of COVID-19. To our knowledge, ours is the first study to investigate the association of ACE1 I/D polymorphism and susceptibility to COVID-19 in Caucasian children and adolescents. The presence of the ACE1 D/D genotype or ACE1 Deletion allele may confer susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and being associated with higher ACE serum levels; may constitute independent risk factors for severe COVID-19. The ACE1 I/D genotyping help design further clinical trials reconsidering RAS-pathway antagonists to achieve more efficient targeted therapies.

Ficolin-1 gene (FCN1) -144 C/A polymorphism is associated with adverse outcome of severe pneumonia in the under-five Egyptian children: A multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is the foremost cause of child death worldwide. M-ficolin is encoded by the FCN1 gene and represents a novel link between innate and adaptive immunity. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the FCN1 -144 C/A (rs10117466) polymorphism as a potential marker for pneumonia severity and adverse outcome namely complications or mortality in the under-five Egyptian children. METHODS: This was a prospective multicenter study that included 620 children hospitalized with World Health Organization-defined severe pneumonia and 620 matched healthy control children. Polymorphism rs10117466 of the FCN1 gene promoter was analyzed by PCR-SSP, while serum M-ficolin levels were assessed by ELISA. RESULTS: The FCN1 A/A genotype and A allele at the -144 position were more frequently observed in patients compared to the control children (43.4% vs 27.6%; odds ratio [OR]: 1.62; [95% confidence interval {CI}: 1.18-2.2]; for the A/A genotype) and (60.8% vs 52.5%; OR: 1.4; [95% CI: 1.19-1.65]; for the A allele); P < .01. The FCN1 -144 A/A homozygous patients had significantly higher serum M-ficolin concentrations (mean: 1844 ± 396 ng/mL) compared with those carrying the C/C or C/A genotype (mean: 857 ± 278 and 1073 ± 323 ng/mL, respectively; P = .002). FCN1 -144 A/A genotype was an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes in children with severe pneumonia (adjusted OR = 4.85, [95% CI: 2.96-10.25]; P = .01). CONCLUSION: The FCN1 A/A genotype at the -144 position was associated with high M-ficolin serum levels and possibly contributes to enhanced inflammatory response resulting in the adverse outcome of pneumonia in the under-five Egyptian children.