Immune dysregulation and cytokine release syndrome have emerged as pathological hallmarks of severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), leading to the evaluation of cytokine antagonists as therapeutic agents. A number of immune-directed therapies being considered for COVID-19 patients are already in clinical use in chronic inflammatory conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). These considerations led us to systematically examine the intersections between COVID-19 and the GI tract during health and intestinal inflammation. We have observed that IBD medications, both biologic and non-biologic, do not significantly impact ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression in the uninflamed intestines. Additionally, by comparing SARS CoV2-induced epithelial gene signatures with IBD-associated genes, we have identified a shared molecular subnetwork between COVID-19 and IBD. These data generate a novel appreciation of the confluence of COVID-19- and IBD-associated inflammation and provide mechanistic insights supporting further investigation of specific IBD drugs in the treatment of COVID-19.

中文翻译：

---

肠道炎症调节ACE2和TMPRSS2的表达，并可能与SARS-CoV-2相关疾病的发病机理重叠

免疫失调和细胞因子释放综合征已成为严重的冠状病毒病2019（COVID-19）的病理学标志，导致评估了细胞因子拮抗剂作为治疗剂。考虑用于COVID-19患者的许多免疫导向疗法已经在临床上用于炎症性肠病（IBD）等慢性炎症性疾病。这些考虑导致我们在健康和肠道炎症期间系统地检查了COVID-19与胃肠道之间的交叉点。我们已经观察到，IBD药物，无论是生物制剂还是非生物制剂，都不会显着影响未发炎肠中ACE2和TMPRSS2的表达。此外，通过比较SARS CoV2诱导的上皮基因标记与IBD相关基因，我们已经确定了COVID-19和IBD之间的共享分子子网。这些数据对COVID-19和IBD相关炎症的融合产生了新颖的认识，并提供了机制上的见解，支持进一步研究特定IBD药物治疗COVID-19。