Concept

Using ACE Inhibitors (ACE-Is) to Treat or Prevent COVID-19

Because ACE and ACE2 are structurally similar, it was thought that existing ACE inhibitor (ACE-I) drugs could be used as a COVID-19 treatment by inhibiting ACE2 activity. However, because the enzymatic binding sites of ACE and ACE2 are different, ACE-Is do not affect ACE2 activity. Additionally, COVID-19 patients who took ACE-I drugs were more likely to experience more severe symptoms and had a higher mortality rate than those that didn't take them. It is thought that ACE inhibition in the RAS may exacerbate the vulnerability of patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or cardiovascular disease to SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 symptoms.

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Updated 2020-07-19

Tags

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)

Biomedical Sciences