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Preventing a covid-19 pandemic

BMJ 2020; 368 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m810 (Published 28 February 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;368:m810

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Rapid Response:

Re: Preventing a covid-19 pandemic - are natural ACE inhibitors of interest?

Dear Editor,

I read with interest the rapid responses to this article. In particular https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m810/rr-2 and https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m810/rr-16
A new paper has been published in this area https://www.nature.com/articles/s41569-020-0360-5

Given that patients with comorbidities of hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease appear to be at higher risk the question ‘Is the expression of ACE2 receptor in the virus targeted cells increased by the use of ACE-inhibitor/angiotensin-receptor blockers’ is interesting.

What about naturally occurring ACE inhibitors? Do they increase the expression of ACE2 receptors in virus targeted cells?

Milk proteins have been shown to have ACE-inhibiting and antihypertensive functions.
‘Milk proteins, both caseins and whey proteins, are a rich source of ACE inhibitory peptides’ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15051858/

Could there be a link between diet and this virus both individually and at population level?

Competing interests: No competing interests

11 March 2020
Jane H Robertson
Experimental Pathology B.Sc. Hons
Maidstone