Wang Chenxing, Wu Heming, Ding Xu, Ji Huan, Jiao Pengfei, Song Haiyang, Li Sheng, Du Hongming
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 210029, PR China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 210029, PR China.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 210029, PR China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 210029, PR China.
Med Hypotheses. 2020 Apr 24;140:109789. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109789.
2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is widespread in China and other countries. The target of 2019-nCoV and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) positive cells. ACE2 is present in the salivary gland duct epithelium, and thus it could be the target of 2019-nCoV and SARS-CoV. SARS-CoV-related animal model experiments show that it can infect the epithelial cells on the salivary gland duct in Chinese rhesus macaques by targeting ACE2. Clinical studies confirmed that 2019-nCoV and SARS-CoV could be detected in saliva of human patients. We hypothesize that the infection of 2019-nCoV and SARS-CoV will lead to inflammatory pathological lesions in patients' target organs, and possibly inflammatory lesions in salivary glands. 2019-nCoV may cause acute sialoadenitis in the acute phase of infection. After the acute phase, chronic sialoadenitis may be caused by fibrosis repairment. Although there was no direct evidence to prove this, the available indirect evidence indicates a high probability of our hypothesis.
2019新型冠状病毒（2019-nCoV）在中国及其他国家广泛传播。2019-nCoV和严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒（SARS-CoV）的靶标是血管紧张素转换酶2（ACE2）阳性细胞。ACE2存在于唾液腺导管上皮中，因此它可能是2019-nCoV和SARS-CoV的靶标。与SARS-CoV相关的动物模型实验表明，它可以通过靶向ACE2感染中国恒河猴唾液腺导管上的上皮细胞。临床研究证实，在人类患者的唾液中可检测到2019-nCoV和SARS-CoV。我们推测，2019-nCoV和SARS-CoV的感染将导致患者靶器官出现炎性病理损伤，唾液腺也可能出现炎性损伤。2019-nCoV可能在感染急性期引起急性涎腺炎。急性期过后，纤维化修复可能导致慢性涎腺炎。虽然没有直接证据证明这一点，但现有的间接证据表明我们的推测很有可能成立。
