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From Brief19: Can Antihypertensives Help To Fight Covid-19?

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April 6, 2020

In a paper published in the preprint journal medRxiv, researchers in Wuhan, China analyzed medical records of patients hospitalized with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. They separated patients with both covid-19 and high blood pressure (hypertension) into two groups: patients who had been prescribed the antihypertensives “ACE inhibitors” and “ARBs,” and patients who had not been prescribed either of these medications. The question: do ACE inhibitors or ARBs have any effect, good or bad, on covid-19 infection? As previously covered in Brief19, experts have debated the use of these medications.

In this new study, researchers found that patients taking ACE inhibitors and ARBs were much less likely to develop “very severe” covid-19, and also had lower death rates. Does this mean that patients who have their elevated blood pressure under control have a better chance at good outcomes? It’s possible. High blood pressure appears to be a risk factor for poorer outcomes. Alternatively, might these medications even actively interrupt the virus’ attempt to enter cells, as we have covered? Too soon to say. However, these data do provide some preliminary evidence that patients already taking either an ACE inhibitor or an ARB for high blood pressure may not need to stop taking these medications if they become infected with SARS-CoV-2, as some experts have suggested might be necessary.

Shared with permission from Brief19, a daily review of #covid-19 research and policy.

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