Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Hypertension: The Role of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 and the Renin-Angiotensin System.

ABSTRACT: Hypertension emerged from early reports as a potential risk factor for worse outcomes for persons with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Among the putative links between hypertension and COVID-19 is a key counter-regulatory component of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS): angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). ACE2 facilitates entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, into host cells. Because RAS inhibitors have been suggested to increase ACE2 expression, health-care providers and patients have grappled with the decision of whether to discontinue these medications during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, experimental models of analogous viral pneumonias suggest RAS inhibitors may exert protective effects against acute lung injury. We re

SUBMITTER: Edmonston DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7334971 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature