Pre-existing cutaneous conditions could increase the risk for SARS-COV-2 infection.

Since the end of 2019, COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 emerged globally. The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on the cell surface is crucial for SARS-COV-2 entering into the cells. We use SARS-COV-2 pseudo virus and humanized ACE2 mice to mimic the possible transmitting of SARS-COV-2 through skin based on the data we found that skin ACE2 level is associated with skin pre-existing cutaneous conditions in human and mouse models and inflammatory skin disorders with barrier dysfunction increased the penetration of topical FITC conjugated spike protein into the skin. Our study indicated the possibility that the pre-existing cutaneous conditions could increase the risk for SARS-COV-2 infection. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=110 SRC="FIGDIR/small/181297v4_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (33K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@14cef60org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1f78c65org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1224834org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1b27475_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG