Highly ACE2 Expression in Pancreas May Cause Pancreas Damage After SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Furong Liu; Xin Long; Wenbin Zou; Minghao Fang; Wenjuan Wu; Wei Li; Bixiang Zhang; Wanguang Zhang; Xiaoping Chen; Zhanguo Zhang

In this study, we focused on the expression of ACE2 in pancreas and the damage to the pancreas in a proportion of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although many previous studies have been reported on the expression of ACE2 tissues and organs [15] , including bulk RNA-seq and scRNA-seq data, this analysis in the pancreas is still lacking. Firstly, we found ACE2 was mostly expressed in the pancreas of normal people, and it was slightly higher in the pancreas than in the lungs, indicating that when SARS-CoV-2 appeared in the circulation, it might also combine with ACE2 in the pancreas to enter cells and cause pancreatic injury. Further, we performed scRNA-seq datasets of the pancreas to explore the localized expression of ACE2 in the pancreas. ACE2 is expressed in both exocrine glands and islets. At the same time, analysis results from scRNA-seq data were consistent with elevated levels of amylase and lipase in the plasma of our patients.