ACE2 and infection: Notably, compared with pre infection (0.39 ± 0.05), expression of ACE2 mRNA transcripts was significantly downregulated during acute infection (0.26 ± 0.04, p = 0.04) and chronic infection (0.17 ± 0.04, p = 0.002) by 1.5 and 2.3-fold, respectively (Figure 1).