Higher angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) levels in the brain of individuals with Alzheimer's disease.

ABSTRACT: Cognitive decline due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) is frequent in the geriatric population, which has been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we investigated the levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a regulator of the renin-angiotensin system and the main entry receptor of SARS-CoV-2 in host cells, in postmortem parietal cortex samples from two independent AD cohorts, totalling 142 persons. Higher concentrations of ACE2 protein (p < 0.01) and mRNA (p < 0.01) were found in individuals with a neuropathological diagnosis of AD compared to age-matched healthy control subjects. Brain levels of soluble ACE2 were inversely associated with cognitive scores (p = 0.02) and markers of pericytes (PDGFRβ, p = 0.02 and ANPEP, p = 0.007), but positively corre

SUBMITTER: Reveret L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10544218 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature