ACE Inhibitors and ARBs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

How should clinicians navigate clinical uncertainty for patients who are taking angiotensin-converting–enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers?

Many patients and clinicians are aware of the recently publicized interplay between SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 illness, and the renin-angiotensin system. Patients concerned about susceptibility to coronavirus already have asked whether to continue taking their prescribed angiotensin-converting–enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), and patients who test positive for the virus likely will have the same concern.

The problem is as follows: Experts have postulated both potentially harmful and potentially beneficial effects of these drugs on the natural history of COVID-19.^1,2 Membrane-bound angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) participates in the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into human cells, and ani…

Authors

Allan S. Brett, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Allan S. Brett, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

David M. Rind, MD

ACE Inhibitors and ARBs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Authors