The effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme levels on COVID-19 susceptibility and severity: a Mendelian randomization study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There has been uncertainty about the safety or benefit of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used Mendelian randomization using genetic determinants of serum-ACE levels to test whether decreased ACE levels increase susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 severity, while reducing potential bias from confounding and reverse causation in observational studies.

Methods

Genetic variants strongly associated with ACE levels, which were nearby the ACE gene, were identified from the ORIGIN trial and a separate genome-wide association study (GWAS) of ACE levels from the AGES cohort. The ORIGIN trial included 4147 individuals of European and Latino ancestries. Sensitivity analyses were performed using a study of 3200 Ic

SUBMITTER: Butler-Laporte G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7799043 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature