COVID-19 UPDATE PREVALENCE; THE RACE FACTOR.

COVID-19 UPDATE.                 PREVALENCE; THE RACIAL FACTOR.                         Following the outbreak of COVID-19, it was discovered that mortality among dark skinned persons was much less compared to pale skinned. The photos exposed races or darker races like Africans and Indians were found to be less susceptible to the disease unlike photo protectwd races like Europeans, Asians and Mexicans.                After a thorough investigation, I came into conclusion that the following could perhaps shed light into this mystery.          Melanin. Melanin is a highly irregular heteropolymer consisting of monomeric units derived from the enzymatic oxidation of the amino acid tyrosine. The process of melanin formation takes place in specialized acidic organelles (melanosomes) in melanocytes. It is known that melanin is always bound to protein in vivo. The effect of various model proteins on melanin synthesis and their interaction with melanin have been studied. It was established that many proteins could increase melanin synthesis at an acidic pH. Further studies proved that while both photo exposed and photo protected races have equal distribution of melanocytes, the photo exposed skins tend to have more elaborate and larger melanosomes. This inbues them with a relative advantage of producing more of the pigment. This comparative advantage further bequeaths them with more thicker, tougher and more resistant skins unlike the light skinned races. The preponderance of thicker tougher skins means better resistance to invading germs or microbes.                                        Skin Acidity. Studies have proven that our skins are acidic. Try licking your skin and you would notice the sour taste.  This skin Acidity is one a factor in first line of defence or innate immunity of the body. The ability of our skins to elaborate surface or epidermal acidity though the body cells and plasma are bathed in neutral pH of 7.0 remains a wonder. Studies have shown that dark skinned races have more acidic skins than white skinned races. It has been established that dark skinned races have pHs ranging from 5.0 to 4.5 while white skinned races have skin pHs ranging from 5.3 to 5.5. These differential pH values though appearing close, actually differ exponentially.  Such differences have logarithmic values similar to Richter scale earth quake readings. This skin Acidity plays significant roles in eliminating germs that come in contact with the body.  The more the acidity, the more resistant the skin.                                                 Antimicrobial Peptides.              The skins of both white and black races possess the capacity to produce certain complex Peptides called Antimicrobial Peptides. The skin continuously comes in contact with microbial pathogens. To ward off these germs, cells of the epidermis and dermis have developed several innate strategies to prevent infection. Antimicrobial peptides are one of the primary mechanisms used by the skin in the early stages of immune defense. Generally, antimicrobial peptides have broad antibacterial activity against gram-positive and negative bacteria and also show antifungal and antiviral activity. The antimicrobial activity of most peptides occurs as a result of unique structural characteristics that enable them to disrupt the microbial membrane while leaving human cell membranes intact. However, antimicrobial peptides also act on host cells to stimulate cytokine production, cell migration, proliferation, maturation, and extracellular matrix synthesis. The production by human skin of antimicrobial peptides such as defensins and cathelicidins is an inherent process but also greatly increases after infection, inflammation or injury. Some skin diseases show altered expression of antimicrobial peptides, partially explaining the pathophysiology of these diseases. Thus, current research suggests that understanding how antimicrobial peptides modify susceptibility to microbes, influence skin inflammation, and modify wound healing, provides greater insight into the pathophysiology of certain skin disorders offering new therapeutic opportunities.             Both defensins and cathelicisins appear to be the most significant antimicrobial peptides with potential capacity and capabilities to eliminate bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens. They're able to do this due to their morphology. They possess both hydrophilic and hydrophobic edges which enable them to attach to the negatively charged bacterial and viral polysaccharide membrane surfaces before lysing them.                                   The antimicrobial peptides also induce a chemotaxis on white blood cells as such recruiting them to sites of bacterial or viral assaults.                                Meta-analysis shows that darker skinned raves elaborate more of these peptides compared to lighter skinned races.                                              The current ability of dark skinned races to resist COVID-19 are yet to be elucidated but explanation could be found in the preponderance of melanin, skin acidity and  antimicrobial peptides in darker races.