PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Isabella Panfoli
TI  - Potential role of endothelial cell surface ectopic redox complexes in COVID-19 disease pathogenesis
AID  - 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0252
DP  - 2020 Sep 01
TA  - Clinical Medicine
PG  - e146--e147
VI  - 20
IP  - 5
4099  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/20/5/e146.short
4100  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/20/5/e146.full
SO  - Clin Med2020 Sep 01; 20
AB  - The novel coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) has rapidly spread and poses a great challenge to researchers, both in elucidating its pathogenic mechanism and developing effective treatments. It has been recently proposed that COVID-19 is an endothelial disease. Indeed, the COVID-19 virus binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme type 2 (ACE2), which is expressed in endothelial cells. ACE2 could be implicated in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by endothelial dysfunction due to viral damage. Consequently, oxidative stress could prime these cells to acquire a pro-thrombotic and pro-inflammatory phenotype, predisposing patients to thromboembolic and vasculitic events and to disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC). This implies a pivotal role played by oxygen in the pathogenetic mechanism of COVID-19 disease, in that its availability would tune the oxidant state and consequent damage.