ACE2 and COVID-19: On the opposite side, other scientists suggested that, other than being harmful, ARBs and ACE inhibitors use in patients with cardiovascular risk factors and known or suspected COVID-19 may even exert a beneficial effect, as ACE2 up-regulation could increase the conversion of Angiotensin II to Angiotensin-(1–7), a peptide with potentially protective anti-inflammatory properties [35, 36].