Researchers at National Yangming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan theorized that PM2.5 affected the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the subsequent severity of the disease.
Many previous studies have shown a correlation between CoVID-19 disease and air pollution levels. Studies indicated that PM2.5 may act as an environmental carrier that facilitates the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
The novel study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, found in mice that PM2.5 instillation induced protein abundance of ACE2 – the receptor for SARS-CoV-2 – and then SARS-CoV-2 pseudogenes. Virus infections increased. in vitro and in vivo.
“Our current results provide the first evidence in vitro and in vivo that PM2.5 exposure increased ACE2 expression and worsened SARS-CoV-2 infection. PM2.5 instillation upregulated RAS protein expression. , increased protein abundance of ACE and ACE2 in the lungs of mice, and exacerbated SARS-CoV-2 disease,” the team said in the paper.
Another recent study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, linked air pollution to prolonged Covid symptoms such as fatigue, difficulty breathing and cognitive problems.
Researchers at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) in Spain showed that air pollution can affect the severity of acute infections. Consequently, exposure to PM2a.5 and PM10 may increase the risk of prolonged symptoms of Covid.
Although air pollution has not long been directly responsible for Covid, it can increase the severity of initial infection, which in turn increases the risk of long-term Covid, the researchers noted.