Experimental data using candesartan and captopril indicate no double-edged sword effect in COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: The key link between renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and COVID-19 is ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2), which acts as a double-edged sword, because ACE2 increases the tissue anti-inflammatory response but it is also the entry receptor for the virus. There is an important controversy on several drugs that regulate RAS activity and possibly ACE2, and are widely used, particularly by patients most vulnerable to severe COVID-19. In the lung of healthy rats, we observed that candesartan (an angiotensin type-1, AT1, receptor blocker; ARB) and captopril (an ACE inhibitor; ACEI) up-regulated expression of tissue ACE2 and RAS anti-inflammatory axis receptors (AT2 and Mas receptors). This effect was particularly pronounced in rats with metabolic syndrome (obesity, increased blood pressure and hy

SUBMITTER: Pedrosa MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7851407 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature