TMPRSS2 and asthma: Notably, after adjusting for age, gender, smoking, atopy status, and use of oral corticosteroids we found a significant positive correlation between a range of these pro-inflammatory cytokines and ACE2 or TMPRSS2 expression levels in airway epitheliums, bronchial biopsies, and the sputum of moderate and severe asthma subjects (Figure 4 and Supplementary Tables 7–9).