Drug Discov Ther. 2020;14(4):161-170. (DOI: 10.5582/ddt.2020.03064)

Association of ACE2 receptor and ACEIs/ARBs with disease severity in COVID-19

Sinha S, Sehgal A, Sehgal R

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is found to be associated with various comorbidities which include cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and diabetes. The impaired regulation of reninangiotensin- aldosterone system (RAAS) has been seen in COVID-19 patients, but whether RAAS inhibitors, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARBs), are responsible for worsening of clinical conditions remains unknown. Herein, we review the role of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression in disease progression, its association with comorbidities and COVID-19, and summarize the clinical evidence for several potential directions for future research work on ACEIs/ARBs in COVID-19 patients.

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