Are angiotensin II receptor blockers for hypertension a gleam of hope or not against COVID-19 infection?

Abstract

Numbers of infected people and deaths by COVID-19 are increasing every day worldwide and life has stopped to fight against this virus. There is an urgent need of a treatment against this pandemic. People having hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes conditions were reported as more vulnerable against COVID-19 infection. ACE2 is the entry receptor for COVID-19 virus and ACE2 blockers are widely used against abovementioned chronic diseases. ACE2 inhibitors can reduce oxidative stress levels in the tissues, when viral infections imbalance redox balance of the organs by elevating oxidative stress levels. Therefore, using ACE2 blockers may help to treat infected patients showing severe symptoms, especially the ones having diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular diseases. However clinical trials are needed to understand whether this theory are correct or not.