- circulating ACE2 was 100-fold lower than circulating ACE and only detected in 40 among 534 test subjects
- indicative of less shedding of ACE2 than ACE
- most healthy individuals have little to no circulating ACE2

State University of New York at Stony Brook

- Increased Concentrations of Circulating ACE2 is Associated with Mild COVID-19 Symptoms 
- Circulating ACE2 expression compared to circulating ACE

Expression of Circulating ACE2 and COVID-19

Rice, G. I., Jones, A. L., Grant, P. J., Carter, A. M., Turner, A. J., & Hooper, N. M. (2006). Circulating activities of angiotensin-converting enzyme, its homolog, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, and neprilysin in a family study. Hypertension, 48(5), 914-920.
https://doi.org/10.1161/01.HYP.0000244543.91937.79

Circulating Activities of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme, Its Homolog, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2, and Neprilysin in a Family Study

This finding suggests that circulating ACE2 has a protective effect.  This may be caused by SARS-CoV-2 having more targets to try and infect.  Ultimately, this would decrease the interactions the virus would have with actual tissues that express ACE .  Women and children have also been found to have greater amounts of circulating ACE2 in their blood, and this may explain why they tend to fare better with COVID-19.

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