Keywords
Ct value
ACE1 polymorphism
symptoms
genetic susceptibility
How to Cite
Abstract
The Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE1) gene presents an insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism(rs4646994). The deletion has been associated with a lower expression of ACE2, the SARS-Cov-2 receptor. It has been described that the SARS-Cov-2 cycle threshold (Ct) value is related to the development of symptoms. Our objective was to evaluate whether the rs4646994 polymorphism is linked to the susceptibility to SARSCov- 2 infection and whether the Ct value influences the development of symptoms. We studied 658 unrelated individuals: 325 uninfected individuals, 132 asymptomatic carriers and 201 symptomatic individuals, in whom the presence/absence of SARS-Cov-2 in a nasopharyngeal swab sample was determined using a commercial RT-qPCR kit. The age, gender, Ct value, and symptoms of each individual were recorded. Samples were genotyped by PCR for rs4646994. No differences were found in the age and gender of SARS-Cov-2-positive patients, or in the presence of symptoms. Significant differences were found between the presence of symptoms and the Ct value (asymptomatic Ct: 23.84 vs symptomatic Ct: 20.22, p <0.001). Significant differences were found between the presence of general malaise, fever, headache, odynophagia, cough, myalgia and anosmia and the Ct value (p <0.001). The D allele frequency in uninfected individuals was 0.51, whereas that in asymptomatic carriers was 0.54 and that in symptomatic ones was 0.53, showing no significant differences between the three groups. Our results suggest that the rs4646994 polymorphism is not linked to the susceptibility to SARSCov- 2 infection in our population, and that the viral load, analyzed as the Ct value, influences the appearance of some symptoms.
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