ACE deletion allele is associated with susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and mortality rate: An epidemiological study in the Asian population

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is believed to have emerged from Wuhan, China, and spreads over 215 countries worldwide. The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) receptors and enter the host cells. Several reports have been highlighted the importance of ACE-2 on the pathogenesis of COVID-19. In the present study, we hypothesize that a functional insertion/deletion polymorphism in the ACE gene could be associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and mortality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed and Google scholar search engines were used to obtained data on the prevalence of ACE I/D polymorphism in different countries of the Asia continent. Data on COVID-19 infection rate (per million), mortality/million, and percentage of recovery were acquired form worldometer website. The Spearman rank correlation test performed to investigate the correlation of allele ‘D’ with SARS-CoV-2 infection, mortality rate, and recovery percentage. RESULTS: Epidemiological investigation revealed a significant positive correlation of D allele of ACE polymorphism with SARS-CoV-2 infection (r = 0.502, p = 0.008, n = 26) and mortality rate (r = 0.620, p = 0.002, n = 22) in Asian population. However, no significant role of ACE I/D polymorphism was observed with recovery rate of patients from SARS-CoV-2 infection (r = −0.208, p = 0.352, n = 22). CONCLUSIONS: Allele D of ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism is associated with the rate of infection and mortality in the Asian population.