Kidney International Reports
Malha, Line; Mueller, Franco B.; Pecker, Mark S.; Mann, Samuel J.; August, Phyllis; Feig, Peter U.
Introduction
In late 2019, a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) leading to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) started in China and has become a pandemic. The responsible virus has been designated SARS-CoV-2. The cellular receptor for SARS-CoV-2 is angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a mostly membrane-bound homologue of angiotensin-converting enzyme(ACE) that has generated great interest in the interaction between COVID-19 and the renin-angiotensin system (RAS),1 as well as in the medicines commonly used to block the RAS. These agents, ACE inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) are widely used in the treatment of hypertension, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes.
Keywords
Epidemiology