• Mohamed Rafiullah.
• Strategic Center for Diabetes Research, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: mrafiullah@ksu.edu.sa.
• Am. J. Med. Sci. 2020 Oct 1; 360 (4): 338341338-341.

AbstractSevere Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome caused by a novel human coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 named COVID-19 and declared as a pandemic. This paper reviews the possibility of repurposing angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R) antagonists and vitamin D to treat COVID-19. ACE2 protein found on the cell membranes is the target of SARS-CoV-2 for entering into the host cells. Viral spike protein-binding with ACE2 down-regulates it. As ACE2 is known to protect the lung from injuries, SARS-CoV-2-induced ACE2 deficiency may expose patients to lung damage. AT1R antagonists and vitamin D increase the expression of ACE2 independently. Besides, vitamin D suppresses the compensatory increase in renin levels following the inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system by AT1R antagonists. Therefore, a combination of AT1R antagonists and vitamin D may offer protection against COVID-19 induced lung injury.Copyright © 2020 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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