Molecular Aspects of Co-morbidities in COVID-19 Infection

Abstract

Coronaviruses are a group of enveloped viruses with single-stranded non-segmented positive-sense RNA genomes. In<br />December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 appeared in China for the first time and quickly spread throughout the world. Although<br />certain medications suggested for other afflictions tend to be potentially effective for curing the infection, there is no<br />approved vaccination or drug available for this virus yet. Comprehension of the disease molecular pathogenesis could<br />provide useful tools for COVID-19 patients in surveillance, prognosis, treatment, vaccine development and therapeutic<br />targeting. The present research aims to summarize the association in COVID-19 patients between molecular dimensions<br />of comorbidities with clinical and preclinical information.<br />Developing an ACE2 inhibitor could be a possible therapeutic target. Plasmin is another possible candidate both in<br />diagnosis and treatment areas. All predicted biomarkers must be validated either through randomized clinical trials or<br />experimental assays before clinical application in patients.<br />Level of evidence: V