Preprint Review Version 2 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

The Pathophysiology of Virulence of the COVID-19

Version 1 : Received: 3 April 2020 / Approved: 7 April 2020 / Online: 7 April 2020 (02:40:24 CEST)
Version 2 : Received: 14 April 2020 / Approved: 15 April 2020 / Online: 15 April 2020 (08:08:52 CEST)

How to cite: De Soto, J.; Hakim, S.; Boyd, F. The Pathophysiology of Virulence of the COVID-19. Preprints 2020, 2020040077. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0077.v2 De Soto, J.; Hakim, S.; Boyd, F. The Pathophysiology of Virulence of the COVID-19. Preprints 2020, 2020040077. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0077.v2

Abstract

Background: On Dec 19, 2019, the public health department of China reported that an outbreak of pneumonia was caused by a novel Coronavirus. The virulence of the new virus COVID-19 was much greater than either the SARs and MERSs viruses and on March 11, 2020, the World Health Department (WHO) declared a worldwide pandemic. Understanding the pathophysiology of virulence of the SARS-COV-2 virus is absolutely necessary for understanding the transmission, virulence factors, reduce risk factors, clinical presentation, predict outcomes of the disease and provide guidance for any current or future treatment protocols. Methodology: A comprehensive PubMed search was performed during December 20, 2019 and April 03, 2020, utilizing the words: Wuhan Virus, COVID-19, SARs coronavirus, ACE2, S-protein, virulence, clinical presentation, epidemiology, genome, treatment, structure, MERs, pathogenesis and/or pathology alone and in combination with other terms. Each paper was evaluated by three content experts for quality, reproducibility, credibility and reputation of the journal. Results: The SARS-COV-2 virus is much more virulent than either the SAR’s or MER’s virus and its ability to cause serious disease inversely corresponds to the person’s ability to produce T-cells which declines linearly with age. The ACE2 receptor binding site does not vary among different ethnic groups but do in ACE-2 expression levels. This variance in expression level may explain for different infectivity rates among men and women and predict and explain different susceptibilities to infection by different ethnic groups. Furthermore, by understanding the underlying pathophysiology one can explain and provide guidance to the clinical effectiveness of any treatment. Conclusions: The underlying pathophysiology of COVID-19 explains not only the virulence, and clinical presentation, but, explains at a molecular level the comorbidity risk factors such as hypertension, sex, and age. Ethnic and anatomic expression patterns of ACE-2 and associated pathophysiology suggests that Native Americans and Asians may be particularly susceptible to this disease.

Keywords

COVID-19; native American Indian; treatment; ACE2 receptor; pathophysiology; virulence

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Pathology and Pathobiology

Comments (1)

Comment 1
Received: 15 April 2020
Commenter: Joseph De Soto
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author
Comment: Responding to comments I have recieved by experts in the area and thus have made some clarifications
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