Upregulated miR-200c may increase the risk of obese individuals to severe COVID-19

Obesity is a risk factor for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, the prevalence of obese individuals admitted with COVID-19 ranging between 30 and 60%. Herein we determined whether early changes in microRNAs (miRNAs) could be the underlying molecular mechanism increasing the risk of obese individuals to COVID-19 infection. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of plasma samples for circulating miRNAs showed a significant upregulation of miR-200c and a small increase in miR-let-7b obese individuals. This was associated with significant downregulation of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Both the miRNAs are the direct targets of ACE2, the specific functional receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Correlation analysis confirmed a significant negative correlation between ACE2 and both the miRNAs. Recent studies showed that despite being the functional receptor, inhibition/downregulation of ACE2 did not reduce the severity of COVID-19 infection. In contrast, increased angiotensin II following inhibition of ACE2 may increase the severity of the disease. Taken together, our novel results identify that upregulation of miR-200c may increase the susceptibility of obese individuals to COVID-19. Considering miRNA are the earliest molecular regulators, circulating miR-200c could be a potential biomarker in the early identification of those at the risk of severe COVID-19.