Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Feb:96:107602.
doi: 10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2021.107602. Epub 2021 Nov 20.

SARS-CoV-2: Can sunlight exposure reduce the risk of developing severe consequences of COVID-19?

Jibran Sualeh Muhammad  1 , Ruqaiyyah Siddiqui  2 , Naveed Ahmed Khan  3
Affiliations

SARS-CoV-2: Can sunlight exposure reduce the risk of developing severe consequences of COVID-19?

Jibran Sualeh Muhammad et al. Comput Biol Chem. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Herein it is proposed that sufficient exposure to sunlight (UVB) modulates host gene expression, offering protection against severe consequences of COVID-19. This could be in addition to sunlight (UVB)-mediated protection by directly inactivating the virus and limiting the viral load. It is suggested that inhibition of CCR2, DPP9, HSPA1L, IFNAR2, OAS1, and TYK2 may, in part, explain UVB-mediated protection against severe consequences of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Disease severity; Genetic changes; SARS-CoV-2; UVB radiation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None

Figures

ga1
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
In silico analysis of expression array obtained from publicly available NCBI GEO databases. A. Heatmap showing relative mRNA expression (Fold Change) from severe COVID-19 patients (n = 11) compared to healthy controls (n = 5), values shown represents “Median (Interquartile range)”. B. Volcano plot showing the effect of UVB radiations on the genetic expression profile in human cells. C. Bar graphs showing relative mRNA expression of 8 candidate genes in UV-treated cell (n = 4), versus the controls cells (n = 5). Data is presented a mean ± SE in error bars.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ali N. Role of vitamin D in preventing of COVID-19 infection, progression and severity. J. Infect. Public Health. 2020;13:1373–1380. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Asyary A., Veruswati M. Sunlight exposure increased Covid-19 recovery rates: a study in the central pandemic area of Indonesia. Sci. Total Environ. 2020;729 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Geddes, L. , 2020. How staying indoors affects your immune system. BBC Future. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200521-can-staying-inside-weaken-th....
    1. Lansiaux É., Pébaÿ P.P., Picard J.L., Forget J. Covid-19 and vit-d: disease mortality negatively correlates with sunlight exposure. Spat. Spatiotemporal Epidemiol. 2020;35 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Meo S.A., Abukhalaf A.A., Alomar A.A., AlMutairi F.J., Usmani A.M., Klonoff D.C. Impact of lockdown on COVID-19 prevalence and mortality during 2020 pandemic: observational analysis of 27 countries. Eur. J. Med. Res. 2020;25:56. - PMC - PubMed