While the pharmaceutical industry has mainly focused on developing antiviral drugs that can fight off coronavirus infections and vaccines, one biotech firm is working on a treatment that would protect a patient's lungs from COVID-19's worst effects, Stat News reports.
Scientists now have a clear sense that the virus enters a person's system through ACE2, an enzyme commonly found on the surface of lung cells. One of ACE2's jobs is to prevent inflammation, but when it's interrupted (as it is in coronavirus patients), it can no longer keep a peptide that constricts blood vessels, known as angiotensin II, in check. Normally, ACE2 would fend off angiotensin II by converting it to angiotensin-(1-7), another peptide that relaxes the vessels and reduces inflammation, protecting people from blood clots and oxidation, which some COVID-19 patients have suffered from.
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