The project entitled “Evaluación de la nicotina como inhibidor del receptor ACE2 para uso profiláctico en profesionales sanitarios y contactos del COVID-19 (Estudio NICOVID)” (‘Assessing nicotine as an inhibitor for the 462ACE2 receptor for prophylactic use in healthcare professionals and COVID-19 cases – NICOVID study’) is being led by UIC Barcelona, with participation from ICO-IDIBELL, the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), the University of Barcelona and the Pompeu Fabra University. The study’s main objective is to find a treatment that reduces the COVID-19 infection rate.  It is focusing particularly on studying how effective nicotine is in impeding the entry of the ACE2 protein, the main gateway for coronavirus into the body. To do this, the research group will analyse the levels of ACE2 present in 1,000 biological samples of which the nicotine levels are already known as they belong to a previous study led by Dr Martínez-Sánchez.

 

The first results from the project led by Dr José M. Martínez-Sánchez, head of the Evaluation Group on Determining Factors in Health and Healthcare Policies, and Dr Josep Clotet, head of the New Cyclins Research Group, will be obtained over the course of the next six months.  Additionally, should the researcher’s theory be confirmed, the project will have an immediate impact on infection prevention among health professionals, nursing home staff and geriatric teams, as it will be possible to identify the most sensitive individuals (who carry higher levels of ACE2 in their saliva) and provide them with extra defences using a pharmacological nicotine treatment.

 

These two elements have been pivotal in the Supera COVID-19 Fund’s decision to award the project €70,000, which will allow the researchers to continue their investigations for the next six months. This initiative is promoted by Santander Bank, the Spanish Rectors Conference (CRUE) and the Centre of Human and Social Sciences (CSIC). The Supera COVID-19 Fund has allocated €8.5 million to finance projects and support measures aimed at mitigating the impact of the crisis sparked by the current pandemic. It focuses on three lines of action: research, social impact projects and strengthening the technological capacity of Spanish universities.