{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T15:19:11Z","timestamp":1768490351374,"version":"3.49.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,14]]},"group-title":"Physiology","reference-count":39,"publisher":"openRxiv","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,14]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Obesity is a major risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity. The underlying basis of this association is likely complex in nature. The host-cell receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and the type II transmembrane serine protease (TMPRSS2) are important for viral cell entry. It is unclear whether obesity alters expression of\n                  <jats:italic>Ace2<\/jats:italic>\n                  and\n                  <jats:italic>Tmprss2<\/jats:italic>\n                  in the lower respiratory tract. Here, we show that: 1)\n                  <jats:italic>Ace2<\/jats:italic>\n                  expression is elevated in the lung and trachea of diet-induced obese male mice and reduced in the esophagus of obese female mice relative to lean controls; 2)\n                  <jats:italic>Tmprss2<\/jats:italic>\n                  expression is increased in the trachea of obese male mice but reduced in the lung and elevated in the trachea of obese female mice relative to lean controls; 3) in chow-fed lean mice, females have higher expression of\n                  <jats:italic>Ace2<\/jats:italic>\n                  in the lung and esophagus as well as higher\n                  <jats:italic>Tmprss2<\/jats:italic>\n                  expression in the lung but lower expression in the trachea compared to males; and 4) in diet-induced obese mice, males have higher expression of\n                  <jats:italic>Ace2<\/jats:italic>\n                  in the trachea and higher expression of\n                  <jats:italic>Tmprss2<\/jats:italic>\n                  in the lung compared to females, whereas females have higher expression of\n                  <jats:italic>Tmprss2<\/jats:italic>\n                  in the trachea relative to males. Our data indicate diet- and sex-dependent modulation of\n                  <jats:italic>Ace2<\/jats:italic>\n                  and\n                  <jats:italic>Tmprss2<\/jats:italic>\n                  expression in the lower respiratory tract and esophagus. Given the high prevalence of obesity worldwide and a sex-biased mortality rate, we discuss the implications and relevance of our results for COVID-19.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1101\/2020.10.13.337907","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,14]],"date-time":"2020-10-14T23:45:26Z","timestamp":1602719126000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Obesity alters\n                  <i>Ace2<\/i>\n                  and\n                  <i>Tmprss2<\/i>\n                  expression in lung, trachea, and esophagus in a sex-dependent manner: Implications for COVID-19"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Dylan C.","family":"Sarver","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"G. William","family":"Wong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2020101617551618000_2020.10.13.337907v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30185-9"},{"key":"2020101617551618000_2020.10.13.337907v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2001017"},{"key":"2020101617551618000_2020.10.13.337907v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2012-7"},{"key":"2020101617551618000_2020.10.13.337907v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)302518"},{"key":"2020101617551618000_2020.10.13.337907v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2213-8587(20)30160-1"},{"key":"2020101617551618000_2020.10.13.337907v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1175","DOI":"10.1002\/oby.22842","article-title":"Obesity is Associated with Severe Forms of COVID-19","volume":"28","year":"2020","journal-title":"Obesity (Silver Spring)"},{"key":"2020101617551618000_2020.10.13.337907v1.7","unstructured":"I. Dugail , E.Z. Amri , N. Vitale , High prevalence for obesity in severe COVID-19: Possible links and perspectives towards patient stratification, Biochimie, (2020)."},{"key":"2020101617551618000_2020.10.13.337907v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)31024-2"},{"key":"2020101617551618000_2020.10.13.337907v1.9","unstructured":"B.M. Popkin , S. Du , W.D. Green , M.A. Beck , T. Algaith , C.H. Herbst , R.F. Alsukait , M. Alluhidan , N. Alazemi , M. Shekar , Individuals with obesity and COVID-19: A global perspective on the epidemiology and biological relationships, Obes Rev, (2020)."},{"key":"2020101617551618000_2020.10.13.337907v1.10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1200","DOI":"10.1002\/oby.22859","article-title":"Association of Obesity with Disease Severity Among Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019","volume":"28","year":"2020","journal-title":"Obesity (Silver Spring)"},{"key":"2020101617551618000_2020.10.13.337907v1.11","unstructured":"R. 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