Pharmaceutical Department, Usl Umbria 1, Via XIV Settembre, 06132 Perugia, Italy.
Pharmaceutical Department, Asl Napoli 3 Sud, Dell'amicizia Street 22, 80035 Naples, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jun 14;23(12):6644. doi: 10.3390/ijms23126644.
The new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. A massive vaccination campaign, which is still ongoing, has averted most serious consequences worldwide; however, lines of research are continuing to identify the best drug therapies to treat COVID-19 infection. SARS-CoV-2 penetrates the cells of the host organism through ACE2. The ACE2 protein plays a key role in the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and undergoes changes in expression during different stages of COVID-19 infection. It appears that an unregulated RAS is responsible for the severe lung damage that occurs in some cases of COVID-19. Pharmacologically modifying the expression of ACE2 could be an interesting line of research to follow in order to avoid the severe complications of COVID-19.
新型严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 型（SARS-CoV-2）引发了 COVID-19 大流行。一场大规模的疫苗接种运动正在进行中，这场运动在全球范围内避免了最严重的后果；然而，研究仍在继续，以确定治疗 COVID-19 感染的最佳药物疗法。SARS-CoV-2 通过 ACE2 进入宿主细胞。ACE2 蛋白在肾素-血管紧张素系统（RAS）中起着关键作用，并且在 COVID-19 感染的不同阶段表达发生变化。似乎失调的 RAS 是导致 COVID-19 某些情况下发生严重肺部损伤的原因。通过药理学改变 ACE2 的表达可能是一个有趣的研究方向，以避免 COVID-19 的严重并发症。
