Hypertension in COVID-19, A Risk Factor for Infection or A Late Consequence?

Barekat, Maryam; Shahrbaf, Mohammad Amin; Rahi, Kosar; Vosough, Massoud

doi:10.22074/cellj.2022.8487

Hypertension in COVID-19, A Risk Factor for Infection or A Late Consequence?

Document Type : Letter to The Editor

Authors

¹ Department of Regenerative Medicine, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran

² Research and Development Department, Royan Stem Cell Technology Co, Tehran, Iran

³ Department of Regenerative Biomedicine, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran

⁴ Experimental Cancer Medicine, Institution for Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

10.22074/cellj.2022.8487

Abstract

There are a lot of data about the correlation of SARS-CoV-2 infection and hypertension (HTN), but most of them
are in the increased risk of morbidity and mortality in patients with HTN. SARS-CoV-2 can interfere with host cells
through the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) via the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. RAS activation
is associated with pro-inflammatory effects through the ACE/Ang II/ Angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) pathway
or anti-inflammatory effects through ACE2/Ang1-7/Mas axis. In the current paper, we discuss the pathophysiology of
newly diagnosed HTN and its effect on morbidity in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Keywords