Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington DC, USA.
J Med Virol. 2021 Sep;93(9):5285-5294. doi: 10.1002/jmv.27075. Epub 2021 May 19.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, disproportionally targets older people, particularly men, ethnic minorities, and individuals with underlying diseases such as compromised immune system, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. The discrepancy in COVID-19 incidence and severity is multifaceted and likely involves biological, social, as well as nutritional status. Vitamin D deficiency, notably common in Black and Brown people and elderly, is associated with an increased susceptibility to many of the diseases comorbid with COVID-19. Vitamin D deficiency can cause over-activation of the pulmonary renin-angiotensin system (RAS) leading to the respiratory syndrome. RAS is regulated in part at least by angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which also acts as a primary receptor for SARS-CoV-2 entry into the cells. Hence, vitamin D deficiency can exacerbate COVID-19, via its effects on ACE2. In this review we focus on influence of age, gender, and ethnicity on vitamin D-ACE2 interaction and susceptibility to COVID-19.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）是由严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）病毒引起的，它不成比例地针对老年人、特别是男性、少数民族以及患有免疫系统受损、心血管疾病和糖尿病等潜在疾病的人群。COVID-19 的发病率和严重程度存在差异，这是多方面的，可能涉及生物学、社会以及营养状况等因素。维生素 D 缺乏症在黑人和棕色人种以及老年人中尤为常见，与许多与 COVID-19 并存的疾病的易感性增加有关。维生素 D 缺乏会导致肺部肾素-血管紧张素系统（RAS）过度激活，从而导致呼吸综合征。RAS 的调节至少部分由血管紧张素转换酶 2（ACE2）进行，ACE2 也是 SARS-CoV-2 进入细胞的主要受体。因此，维生素 D 缺乏会通过对 ACE2 的影响，加重 COVID-19。在这篇综述中，我们重点讨论了年龄、性别和种族对维生素 D-ACE2 相互作用和 COVID-19 易感性的影响。
