ACE2 and acute respiratory distress syndrome: This “cytokine storm”, reportedly due to angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) downregulation by SARS-CoV-2 (Bourgonje et al., 2020), triggers a proinflammatory environment which is strongly associated with severe tissue damages, contributing to ARDS and fatal outcomes of COVID-19 patients (Kimura et al., 2013).