Two investigational drugs have been found to be ineffective by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers for severe COVID-19.
The study published in the Journal of the American Medical AssociationThe severe COVID-19 virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2), enters pulmonary and myocardial cells through binding of its spike protein to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, enters pulmonary and myocardial cells through binding of its spike protein to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). ACE2 is a crucial enzyme that regulates blood pressure and the blood flow to many organs including the lungs and heart.
The prevailing hypothesis, which has been around since the COVID-19 outbreak, is that viral attachment to ACE2 inhibits conversion of angiotensin II to angiotensin 1-7. Thus, a pathological imbalance occurs in the RAS favoring the ANG II route, promoting inflammation and constriction of blood vessels. These RAS changes could be at the core of the severe clinical effects that occur in the lungs, and possibly other organs.
VUMC conducted two multicenter, blinded placebo-controlled clinical trials…
