Relevance of enriched expression of SARS-CoV-2 binding receptor ACE2 in gastrointestinal tissue with pathogenesis of digestive symptoms, diabetes-associated mortality, and disease recurrence in COVID-19 patients

Ashutosh Kumar; Muneeb A. Faiq; Vikas Pareek; Khursheed Raza; Ravi K. Narayan; Pranav Prasoon; Pavan Kumar; Maheswari Kulandhasamy; Chiman Kumari; Kamla Kant; Himanshu N. Singh; Rizwana Qadri; Sada N. Pandey; Santosh Kumar

Many incidences of disease recurrence have been reported in COVID-19 patients even after being discharged from the hospital. Studies have reported continued shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in the feces of COVID-19 patients up to five weeks after disappearance of the pulmonary symptoms bolstering the indication that a residual persisting of virus inside the digestive system components may be a reason for the disease recurrence. 16 We aimed to validate genomic and proteomic expression of ACE2 in the components of human digestive system (including liver, GB, and pancreas) in tissues derived from the healthy individuals to understand pathophysiological basis of the digestive symptoms in COVID-19 patients.