key: cord-0914557-3j53hcxf
authors: Delanghe, Joris R.; Speeckaert, Marijn M.; De Buyzere, Marc L.
title: ACE polymorphism and COVID-19 outcome
date: 2020-08-07
journal: Endocrine
DOI: 10.1007/s12020-020-02454-7
sha: 590991d98e9972c762ca3ee4882878fa82a96d6a
doc_id: 914557
cord_uid: 3j53hcxf

nan

prevalence and mortality have been reported (e.g., Italy, where the Northern region Lombardy was struck more severely and the authors have used data from other parts of the country). The authors have used the I/D allele ratio value of 0.49 for Italy, which strongly differs from the average obtained in Italian studies over the last two decades (D allele 0.57-0.61 corresponding to I/D allele ratios of 0.64-0.75).

As only 40% of the total variance of mortality due to COVID-19 can be explained by the ACE1 I/D polymorphism [3] , also other confounders (e.g., demography, seasonality, local health care organisation) must be taken into account when analyzing survival rates in COVID-19 infection.

The ACE1 I/D polymorphism is also functionally linked to the related enzyme ACE2 [2] , which is the natural receptor for the COVID-19 virus. Genetic polymorphisms for ACE2 have recently been described [4] [5] [6] . Both ACE1 and ACE2 are linked to hypertension, a well-known risk factor in COVID-19 [7] .

In conclusion, only data matching with a sufficient quality should be used for the meta-regression analysis. Failure to do so may lead to unwarranted conclusions.

Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Publisher's note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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