Renin News and Research

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Renin, also known as angiotensinogenase, is an enzyme that participates in the body's renin-angiotensin system (RAS) that mediates extracellular volume (i.e., that of the blood plasma, lymph and interstitial fluid), and arterial vasoconstriction. Thus, it regulates the body's mean arterial blood pressure.

Antihypertensives reduce severity of Covid-19 infection and death

Medication for high blood pressure could improve Covid-19 survival rates and reduce the severity of infection - according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

25 Aug 2020

Antihypertensives improve COVID-19 survival rates

Previous studies have also linked hypertension to severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Now, a new study by researchers at the University of East Anglia's Norwich Medical School has found that the risk of severe COVID-19 and death was reduced for patients with high blood pressure who were taking Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARB).

24 Aug 2020

DHODH inhibitor PTC299 shows potential as a COVID-19 therapeutic

As COVID-19 continues to take a heavy toll on human health and life in many parts of the world, there is still no effective antiviral drug or vaccine. This has fueled an intensive search for small molecules and proteins that can inhibit viral entry and replication.

10 Aug 2020

Large-scale analysis of Alport syndrome reveals the effectiveness of existing treatments

A large-scale analysis of the clinical characteristics of Alport syndrome in Japanese patients has revealed that the effectiveness of existing treatment with ACE inhibitors and/or angiotensin receptor blockers (RAS inhibitors) varies depending on the type of mutation in the syndrome's causal gene (COL4A5).

7 Aug 2020

Novel short ACE2 isoform may influence SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility

A study led by researchers at the University of Southampton, UK, has identified a novel short isoform of the full-length receptor that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses to gain entry to host cells.

3 Aug 2020

Computational analyses suggest new pathway for inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2

Analyses of lung fluid cells from COVID-19 patients conducted on the nation's fastest supercomputer point to gene expression patterns that may explain the runaway symptoms produced by the body's response to SARS-CoV-2.

28 Jul 2020

Mouse model of fatal COVID-19 developed for vaccine and drug testing

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 presents an engineered transgenic mouse that reproduces the functional and clinical characteristics of severe human SARS-CoV-2 infection.

21 Jul 2020

Novel blood test for heart failure could lead to new diagnostics for COVID-19 patients

A new blood test that reliably predicts outcomes for heart failure patients could lead to new diagnostics and treatments for COVID-19 patients as well, according to newly published research from cardiologists at the University of Alberta.

20 Jul 2020

UTHealth physicians investigate blood pressure drug's effect on improving COVID-19 outcomes

An interventional therapy aimed at improving survival chances and reducing the need for critical care treatment due to COVID-19 is being investigated by physicians at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

14 Jul 2020

SARS-CoV-2 a dagger to the aging heart

Researchers in Europe have shown that genes involved in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are expressed to a higher degree in older heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) than they are in younger cardiomyocytes.

9 Jul 2020

COVID-19 complications may be associated with von Willebrand factor in the blood

Anna Aksenova, a senior research associate at the Laboratory of Amyloid Biology at St Petersburg University, has advanced a hypothesis that the severe course of COVID-19 may be associated with von Willebrand factor.

6 Jul 2020

Study shows generic drug does not slow kidney disease

Historically, half or more of people with type 1 diabetes develop kidney disease, which frequently progresses to kidney failure, requiring dialysis treatment or kidney transplantation for survival, according to a study in Diabetes Care.

26 Jun 2020

Promising treatment does not guard against complication in type 1 diabetes

Historically, half or more of people with type 1 diabetes develop kidney disease, which frequently progresses to kidney failure requiring hemodialysis or a kidney transplant for survival.

25 Jun 2020

ACE inhibition in kidney could influence pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2

The dynamics of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression in the kidney could have implications for the infectivity and pathogenicity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), say researchers.

24 Jun 2020

Low potassium levels in COVID-19 disease

Now a new study by an Italian team of researchers published in June 2020 on the preprint server medRxiv reports that potassium levels are often low in COVID-19 disease, mostly due to the urinary loss of potassium.

17 Jun 2020

SARS-CoV-2 mutation reduces S1 shedding, increases infective potential

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the seventh coronavirus known to infect humans. SARS-CoV-2 emerged in the last month of 2019 in Wuhan, China, sparking off the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This virus enters the host cells through receptor binding and membrane fusion between the viral and host cell membrane.

16 Jun 2020

High-salt diet may modulate the gut microbiome

Particularly in females with untreated hypertension, reducing salt intake to what's considered a healthier level appears to be good for both their gut microbiome and their blood pressure, scientists report.

9 Jun 2020

Metabolic diseases alter ACE2 expression and increase COVID-19 severity

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in June 2020 reports that one mechanism for this variable severity is the differential expression of the ACE2 receptor in various metabolic conditions, thereby facilitating viral entry into the host cells.

9 Jun 2020

How comorbidities affect SARS-CoV-2 viral entry

Almost from the start of the current COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear that individuals suffering from other medical conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and lung disease are far more likely to contract the infection and to have a poorer outcome.

28 May 2020

ACE2 receptors in the kidney not linked to high BP or RAS blockers

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to smolder and flare up in various parts of the world, researchers are still trying to make sense of the virus, its routes of spread, its target tissues, and the immune responses it induces. One crucial piece of knowledge is that the primary viral receptor is a human enzyme called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).

27 May 2020