Revista Cubana de Medicina Militar
ISSN 1561-3046
PINERA-CASTRO, Héctor Julio RUIZ-GONZALEZ, Lisandra Aimé. Implications of smoking in the context of COVID-19. []. , 51, 1 01--2022. ISSN 1561-3046.
Introduction:
With the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), questions about the risk factors that influence the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have emerged. A widely debated issue has been the potential effect of smoking on SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and the clinical consequences of COVID-19.
Objective:
To elucidate the implications of smoking in the context of COVID-19.
Development:
In the literature consulted, several pathophysiological mechanisms that support the deleterious effect of smoking in the context of COVID-19 were identified: upregulation of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2; increased expression/activity of transmembrane serine protease 2, cathepsin B/L and furin; immunoinflammation and immunosuppression; upregulation of phosphodiesterase 4; encephalic hemovascular alterations; and morphofunctional modifications of the lung parenchyma.
Conclusions:
Smoking has a deleterious effect on patients bearing COVID-19. In this harmful association, there are pathophysiological mechanisms that may make smokers -active or passive ones- more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection or more likely to present with an unfavorable evolution once they have developed COVID-19.
: tobacco; cigarette; smoking; nicotine; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19.