COVID-19 and smoking: is nicotine the hidden link?

Eur Respir J. 2020 Jun 4;55(6):2001116. doi: 10.1183/13993003.01116-2020. Print 2020 Jun.

Patrizia Russo^{1

2}, Stefano Bonassi^{3

2}, Robertina Giacconi⁴, Marco Malavolta⁴, Carlo Tomino⁵, Fabrizio Maggi^{6

7}

¹ Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology, IRCSS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy patrizia_russo@hotmail.it.
² Dept of Human Sciences and Quality of Life Promotion, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy.
³ Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology, IRCSS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy.
⁴ Advanced Technology Center for Aging Research, Scientific Technological Area, Italian National Institute of Health and Science on Aging (INRCA), Ancona, Italy.
⁵ Scientific Direction, IRCSS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy.
⁶ Dept of Translational Research, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
⁷ Virology Division, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy.

Abstract

Nicotine via alpha7-nicotinic receptor induces ACE-2 overexpression in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEpC) https://bit.ly/3eJ5b35