Nevertheless, experimental findings indicate that the downregulation of apelin and ACE2, coupled with the upregulation of SGLT-2, endothelin-1, and pro-inflammatory cytokines, play a contributory role in the cardiorenal injury mediated by SARS-CoV-2 in rats with post-myocardial infarction heart failure, as well as in mice with AKI and diabetes [56]. Here, ACE2 is linked to acute kidney injury.