Antihypertensive drug treatment and susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in human PSC-derived cardiomyocytes and primary endothelial cells

hPSC-derived cadiomyocytes and primary endothelial cells were treated with lisinopril or losartan to assess whether antihypertensive drugs could impact SARS-CoV-2 entry in vitro Overall design: The pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 has been attributed to its ability to enter through the membrane bound angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. Therefore, it has been heavily suspected that angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) therapy may affect the susceptibility of patients to SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, we used human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) and primary human endothelial cells (hECs) to assess whether SARS-CoV-2 infection levels change in the presence of two widely prescribed antihypertensive medications, losartan and lisinopril, and to identify differences in the transcriptomic signatures of hPSC-CMs exposed to SARS-CoV-2. Significant enrichment of protein coding genes involved in inflammation, immunity and cardiomyocyte structural proteins were identified in SARS-CoV-2 treated cells. However, in vitro treatment of lisinopril or losartan in hPSC-CMs or hECs did not affect the susceptibility of cells to SARS-CoV-2 infection.