ena-DATASET-DKFZ-24-12-2020-10:12:59:494-197 - samples

In Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are major risk factors for critical disease
progression. However, the underlying reasons and the effect of the main anti-hypertensive therapies—angiotensin-converting
enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)—remain unclear. Combining clinical data (n = 144) and
single-cell sequencing data of airway samples (n = 48) with in vitro experiments, we observed a distinct inflammatory predisposition
of immune cells in patients with hypertension that correlated with critical disease progression. ACEI treatment
associated with dampened COVID-19-related hyperinflammation and with increased cell intrinsic anti-viral responses, whereas
ARB treatment related to enhanced epithelial–immune cell interactions. Macrophages and neutrophils of patients with hypertension,
in particular under ARB treatment, exhibited higher expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines CCL3 and CCL4
and the chemokine receptor CCR1. Although the limited size of our cohort does not allow us to establish clinical efficacy, our
data suggest that the clinical benefits of ACEI treatment in patients with COVID-19 who have hypertension warrant further
investigation.EGA dataset EGAD00001006828