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The angiotensin-converting-enzyme-2 (ACE2), a key protein of the RAAS pathway, also mediates cellular entry of SARS-CoV-2. RAAS inhibitors might affect the expression levels of <jats:italic>ace2<\/jats:italic>, which could impact patient susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. However, multi-organ-specific information is currently lacking and no species other than rodents have been examined. To address this knowledge gap, we treated adult zebrafish with the RAAS inhibitors aliskiren, olmesartan, and captopril for 7 consecutive days and performed qRT-PCR analysis of major RAAS pathway genes in the brain, gill, heart, intestine, kidney, and liver. Both olmesartan and captopril significantly increased <jats:italic>ace2<\/jats:italic> expression in the heart, gill, and kidney. Olmesartan also increased <jats:italic>ace2<\/jats:italic> expression in the intestine. Conversely, aliskiren significantly decreased <jats:italic>ace2<\/jats:italic> expression in the heart. Discontinuation of compound treatments for 7\u00a0days did not return <jats:italic>ace2<\/jats:italic> expression to baseline levels. While potential risks or benefits of antihypertensive RAAS inhibitors to SARS-CoV-2 infections in humans remain uncertain, this study provides new insights regarding the impact of RAAS inhibitors on organ-specific <jats:italic>ace2<\/jats:italic> expression in another vertebrate model, thereby providing comparative data and laying scientific groundwork for future clinical decisions of RAAS inhibitor use in the context of COVID-19.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-03244-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,8]],"date-time":"2021-12-08T11:03:07Z","timestamp":1638961387000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["The effect of renin\u2013angiotensin\u2013aldosterone system inhibitors on organ-specific ace2 expression in zebrafish and its implications for COVID-19"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Gha-hyun J.","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adam","family":"Melgoza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fei","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Su","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"3244_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1504","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajem.2020.04.048","volume":"38","author":"B Long","year":"2020","unstructured":"Long, B., Brady, W. 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