[Taxacom] possible covariates for corona virus virulence

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi All,
       It seems that smoking causes increased expression of coronavirus receptors in the lungs of smokers.  In the case of the MERS virus, it involved the DPP4 receptor, while in SARS and the new coronavirus, it probably is due to the ACE2 (or a related) receptor.  The culprit in this "increased expression" is thought to be nicotine.   About 50% of Chinese men smoke (apparently even higher among male doctors; almost 60%).  Thus it is not surprising that they (and even their wives) are at higher risk of contracting and dying from the new coronavirus.  There are few (if any) deaths, among children 0-9 years old.  The majority of deaths are in patients over 60 years old, especially those with pre-existing lung or heart problems.
      More older people also tend to die from the influenza pandemics we see every single year, except influenza causes far more deaths (up to 650,000 deaths a year worldwide).  Even if the new coronavirus causes 5,000 or more deaths this year, it hardly compares with all those influenza deaths.
                           ---------------Ken

Increased Expression of the MERS Coronavirus Receptor DPP4 in Lungs of Smokers and Patients with COPD:  https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2017.195.1_MeetingAbstracts.A7357

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-dangerous-smokers/


________________________________
From: Timothy Dickinson <tim.dickinson at utoronto.ca>
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2020 5:14 PM
To: Kenneth Kinman <kinman at hotmail.com>; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Subject: Re: possible covariates for corona virus virulence


good point. children nevertheless have relatively undamaged lungs (short exposure times), whereas mortality is high in older patients with often (?) life-long exposures to tobacco smoke and/or pollution. let us know if you succeed in finding relevant data!


---tad.



On 2020-02-03 6:08 p.m., Kenneth Kinman wrote:
Hi Timothy,

      It is interesting to note that the severity of cases and the death rate from the new coronavirus are very low among children.   Children would also be exposed to the pollution, so that makes me think that smoking is perhaps more of a factor than pollution (although being a smoker and also exposed to heavy pollution would be a double whammy for adult smokers).
       The same seems to have been true of the SARS coronavirus:  "A notable feature of the 2003 global SARS outbreak was the relative paucity of cases reported among children."   Anyway, I am still trying to find out if there are any numbers available on smokers vs. non-smokers among those who died from the various coronavirus outbreaks.
                          --------------Ken Kinman

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17195709

________________________________
From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu><mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> on behalf of Timothy Dickinson via Taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu><mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2020 12:14 PM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu><mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Subject: [Taxacom] possible covariates for corona virus virulence

I have been struck by mention in BBC articles that the first Chinese
corona virus victim in Wuhan was a heavy smoker, among other things.
more recently...


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<Tim Dickinson
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