Researchers to Study Why COVID-19 Strikes Asthma Sufferers Less Severely Than Others

Researchers to Study Why COVID-19 Strikes Asthma Sufferers Less Severely Than Others A University of Arizona Health Sciences-led research team received $7.16 million in federal funding to study how to better control severe asthma and determine why sufferers are less likely to contract COVID-19, influenza and rhinovirus. Today University of Arizona Health Scienceswomen_blowing_nose-948301830-hero-web.jpgHealthCollege of Medicine - TucsonExpertsExplorationResearchAn investigation into why asthma sufferers are less likely to contract COVID-19 is one of several aims for research funded through a $7.16 million National Institutes of Health cooperative agreement with the  Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center at the University of Arizona Health Sciences.201504553_kraft-41-inline_0.jpg Monica KraftEarly in the pandemic, scientists learned that one of the ways the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects cells is through the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, or ACE2, receptor. The ACE2 receptor is an enzyme that, among other things, helps relax veins and lower blood pressure. Last summer, Dr.  Monica Kraft, deputy director of the Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center and professor and chair of the  UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson' s Department of Medicine,  led a study that showed the proteins governing asthma-induced inflammation reduce ACE2 expression." It seems having asthma confers some degree of protection against COVID-19, because the ACE2 receptor is reduced in asthm...
Source: The University of Arizona: Health - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Source Type: research