Angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 Expression in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Correlation with p53 and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Using Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction - An Evaluative Study.

Introduction: Angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), though expressed in various tumour cells, is increasingly recognized for its potential tumour-suppressive role, primarily through inhibiting angiogenesis and related pathways involved in tumour progression and invasion. However, there is uncertainty about its expression, association with angiogenesis and tumour growth. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and tumour protein 53 (p53) are known biomarkers for the angiogenesis pathway and tumour progression; hence, we intended to investigate how ACE2 expression correlates with VEGF and p53 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissue. This study aimed to analyse the gene expression levels of ACE2, p53, and VEGF in OSCC patients and assess their correlations with OSCC progression. Materials and Methods: A total of 20 tissue samples each from OSCC patients and healthy individuals were analysed. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) isolation was performed, followed by cDNA synthesis using ACE2, p53, and VEGF primers. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed, and results were analysed. Results: The mean mRNA expression levels of the ACE2, p53, and VEGF genes in OSCC patients were 1.8, 1.4, and 2.7, respectively. Notably, the Pearson coefficient demonstrated that ACE2 levels were positively correlated with VEGF levels and negatively correlated with p53 levels. Discussion: Our findings indicate that, compared with healthy tissues, OSCC tissues present increased mRNA expression of ACE2, p53, and VEGF. The findings of the present study suggest that ACE2 levels are associated with increased expression of VEGF in OSCC patients. Further studies are necessary to explore and elucidate the role of ACE2 in the VEGF angiogenesis pathway in OSCC progression.