Figure 7 Expression of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) mRNA and protein in rat lung tissue. (A) Real‐time reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) shows that the mRNA expression of ACE2 was significantly decreased by high‐volume (HV) (p<0.001) but not by low‐volume (LV) (p = 0.067) ventilation (n = 6 for each group). (B) The lung levels of ACE2 protein of the rats were very low compared with the level in the kidney or heart (control group (NC) lung vs kidney, p = 0.007; lung vs heart, p = 0.017). The difference between groups was not significant. (HV vs NC, p = 0.90, n = 3 for each group).