ACE2 and diabetic kidney disease: The upregulation of Ang II contributes to DKD progression by activating proinflammatory and profibrotic effects (Yang et al., 2016b; Chen L. et al., 2017), while recombinant ACE2 attenuates DKD progression by suppressing oxidative stress, fibrosis, and mesangial cell proliferation (Malek et al., 2021).