Levels of circulating angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 are affected by acute exercise and correlate with markers of physical fitness in male athletes

Abstract While under physiological conditions angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is an antagonist of vasoconstrictive agents in the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS), in the context of SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) ACE2 serves as the gateway into cells. Furthermore, RAAS has previously been shown to be influenced by exercise training and is suggested to be involved in skeletal muscle mass maintenance. Given this connection, the investigation of circulating ACE2 plasma protein concentration before and following acute and chronic endurance and resistance exercise could increase the understanding of the implications of the exposure of athletes to SARS‐CoV‐2. Therefore, this study investigated levels of circulating ACE2 in lifelong high‐level trained endurance and resistance athletes and control subjects in response to either acute endurance or resistance exercise. Results show no baseline differences in absolute ACE2 concentration between groups, but a strong negative correlation with levels of fitness and positive correlation with BMI in control subjects. Furthermore, acute endurance exercise significantly increased ACE2 levels across all groups, but only in the strength group in response to resistance exercise. This indicates that circulating ACE2 plasma levels are influenced by levels of fitness and health, and that acute endurance exercise has a stronger effect on plasma ACE2 levels than resistance exercise.