Figure 2. NSAID treatment does not affect ACE2 expression in human cell lines.

(A-B) Calu-3 (A) and Huh7.5 (B) cells were treated with different concentrations of ibuprofen or meloxicam for 48 hours. Cell viability was measured and calculated as a percentage of no treatment. (C) Calu-3 cells were treated with DMSO, 50 μM ibuprofen, or 50 μM meloxicam for 48 hours. Levels of prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) were measured in the supernatant. Dotted line represents limit of detection. (D-E) Calu-3 (D) and Huh7.5 (E) cells were treated with DMSO, 50 μM ibuprofen, or 50 μM meloxicam for 24 hours. ACE2 expression was measured and normalized to ACTB. All data points in this figure are presented as mean ± SEM. Data were analyzed by Welch’s two-tailed, unpaired t-test (C-E). **P < 0.01. ns, not significant. Data in (A-E) are representative of two independent experiments with three replicates per condition.