Angiotensin I converting enzyme II

Angiotensin I converting enzyme II or ACE2, also known as ACEH, is part of the renin-angiotensin system, which regulates blood pressure, and the balance of fluids and salts in the body.

Function
The ACE2 encoding gene is believed to have a role in the carcardiovascular/circulatory system, kidney function, and fertility.

ACE2 cuts the angiotensin I protein, convert it into angiotensin II.

ME/CFS
Lieberman and Bell (1992) found higher serum ACE2 levels in 80% of patients with ME/CFS, compared to 9.4% of controls.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/000293439390310L

POTS
Musafa et al. (2012) found some patients with POTS have "inappropriately high plasma angiotensin II levels", and estimated that these patents had low ACE2 activity.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3050076/

COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, uses ACE2 receptors to binds to human cell.https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6485/1444.abstract Yan et al 2020) suggest that blocking ACE2 receptors may potentially prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Notable studies

 * 1992, Serum angiotensin-converting enzyme as a marker for the chronic fatigue-immune dysfunction syndrome: A comparison to serum angiotensin-converting enzyme in sarcoidosis
 * 2012, Abnormalities of Angiotensin Regulation in Postural Tachycardia Syndrome

Learn more

 * ACE2 gene - Genetics Home Reference, US Library of Medicine
 * ACE2 gene - PubMed