NOS3 and endothelial dysfunction: Specifically, SARS-CoV-2 has been demonstrated to infect endothelial cells and, hence, induce endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation via the downregulation of ACE2 expression on the target cell surface, causing the imbalance of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAAS) system and triggering the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via NOX activation and reduced availability of nitric oxide (NO) via decreased eNOS activity [20,56].