ACE2/Ang-(1-7)/MasR axis in AD

Type of evidence (clinical or experimental)Main findingReferences
Human (postmortem human brain tissue from AD patients)- ACE2 activity was decreased by about 50%
- ACE2 reduction strongly associated to increased Aβ and phosphorylated tau levels
Kehoe et al., 2016 [140]
Human (cerebrospinal fluid from AD patients)- ACE2 increased in association with aging in the control group but not in AD
- ACE2 enzyme activity correlated positively with albumin, a marker of blood-brain barrier integrity
Kehoe et al., 2019 [141]
Human (postmortem human brain tissue from AD patients)- Increased Ang II/Ang-(1-7) ratio in AD in comparison to age-matched controlsKehoe et al., 2016 [140]
Human (plasma from AD patients)- Decreased Ang-(1-7) plasma levels in AD compared with matched controls
- Ang-(1-7) plasma levels were positively correlated to cognitive performance
Jiang et al., 2016 [143]
Animal (mouse model of sporadic AD)- Reduced Ang-(1-7) levels in cerebral cortex and hippocampus during disease progression
- Ang-(1-7) levels had a negative correlation with hyperphosphorylated tau
Jiang et al., 2016 [144]
Animal (established transgenic APP mouse model, Tg2576 mice)- Enhancement of brain ACE2 activity lowered hippocampal Aβ and improved cognition
- ACE2 enhancement restored hippocampal MasR levels
Evans et al., 2019 [142]