RAS inhibitors may be a Potential Therapy Choice for COVID-19¹

In December 2019, an outbreak of COVID-19 began in Wuhan (Hubei, China) and spread rapidly. However currently, there is no definite and effective treatment for the infection. The COVID-19 revealed that by binding with human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), patients are infected with severe pneumonia and high mortality rates. ACE2 plays an important role in the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), therefore the imbalance between the ACE/Ang II/AT1 receptor pathway and the ACE2/Ang (1-7)/Mas receptor pathway in the RAS system will lead to multi-system inflammation. The binding of COVID-19 and ACE2 resulted in the exhaustion of ACE2 and as a result the ACE2/angiotensin-1-7/Mas receptor pathway was inhibited. Essentially, it is speculated that by targeting ACE2 in COVID-19 patients, the pulmonary inflammatory response and mortality rate might reduce.

References

1. Sun ML, et al. Chin J Tuberc Respir Dis 2020;43:E014. [Epub ahead of print].