en Genetics & Disease Genetics & Disease Original Article Original Article <p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="line-height:200%"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><span style="line-height:200%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression and methylation pattern of the angiotensin I converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) covid-9 patients. A total of 25 patients with covid-19 ARDS and 20 controls were recruited. Expression of the ACE-2 gene was evaluated by quantitative real time PCR, and methylation of CpG dinucleotides, in the ACE-2 promoter, was quantified using bisulfite pyro-sequencing.<b> </b>Our results showed high expression of the ACE-2 gene in the blood samples of ADRS patients (1.93&plusmn; 0.67) in comparison to controls (0.62&plusmn;0.35) (p = 0.03). Correspondingly, in ARDS</span></span> <span style="background:white"><span style="line-height:200%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:black">Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid</span></span></span></span> <span style="line-height:200%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">(BALF) samples, there was a high expression of this gene (1.8&plusmn;0.78) in comparison to controls (0.58&plusmn;0.2) (p <0.05). Moreover, the methylation rate of the ACE-2 gene in blood samples of ARDS patients was 64.07 &plusmn;6.1 in comparison to controls (80.3 &plusmn;7.3) (p<0.0001). &nbsp;In BALF samples, there was this pattern too (55.07 &plusmn;3.1 vs. 72.35&plusmn;5.1) (p<0.0001). Finally, a significant correlation was found between expression and methylation in BALF (R= -0.54, P= 0.002) and blood (R= -0.321, P= 0.013) samples. These results indicated that aberrant methylation of the ACE-2 promoter might be associated with high expression of this gene and the occurrence of ARDS in covid-19 patients. </span></span></span></span></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> Keywords: Covid-19, ACE-2, expression, methylation 55 63 http://ijmcmed.org/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1883-4&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Reza Najafipour rnajafipour@gmail.com 100319475328460026122 100319475328460026122 No Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Science, Tehran, Iran. Davood Mohammadi d.mohammadi@gmail.com 100319475328460026123 100319475328460026123 No Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran. Mabood Momeni amood.momeni@gmail.com 100319475328460026124 100319475328460026124 No Khatam Pathobiology and Genetic Lab, Qazvin, Iran. Sahar Moghbelinejad smoghbelinejad@qums.ac.ir 100319475328460026125 100319475328460026125 Yes Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, Cellular and Molecular Research Centre, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.