Fig. 2.

Virus replication and representative histopathology in SARS-CoV-2-infected hACE2 transgenic mice with hypertension induced by Ang II. a Protocol for SARS-CoV-2-infection in vivo. b Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured by tail-cuff plethysmography in conscious mouse, three times at 8:30 AM. c The SARS-CoV-2 load at 5 dpi. The SARS-CoV-2 loads in the lung and kidney of the mice were quantified by qRT-PCR. dAngiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression quantified by western blot and analyzed by ImageJ (n=3/group). Data are presented as mean ± SD. e Morphology image (top), Masson-stained(middle) and H&E-stained(bottom) sections of the lung (scale bar is 200 μm) and heart (f) from control (normotensive hACE2 transgenic mice) and hypertensive hACE2 transgenic mice without and with AT1R blocker treatment (5 dpi). *P<0.01 vs. control (untreated normotensive hACE2 transgenic mice), ^#P<0.05 vs. untreated hypertensive hACE2 transgenic mice, Wilcoxon rank. Data are presented as mean ± SD