ACE2Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is an enzyme attached to the cell membranes of cells in the lungs, arteries, heart, kidney, and intestines. ACE2 lowers blood pressure by catalysing the hydrolysis of angiotensin II (a vasoconstrictor peptide) into angiotensin (1–7) (a vasodilator). As a transmembrane protein, ACE2 serves as the main entry point into cells for some coronaviruses, including HCoV-NL63,[5] SARS-CoV (the virus that causes SARS),[23][24][25] and SARS-CoV-2[26] (the virus that causes COVID-19). In a study of gut bacteria of 15 patients with SARS-CoV-2 over the course of hospitalization, Bacteroides dorei, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Bacteroides massiliensis, and Bacteroides ovatus, which downregulate expression of ACE2 in murine gut, correlated inversely with SARS-CoV-2 load in fecal samples from patients. [PMID: 32442562] [PMCID: PMC7237927]
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