Role of Drugs used for chronic disease management on Susceptibility and Severity of COVID-19: A Large Case-Control Study.

Yan, Huadong; Valdes, Ana M; Vijay, Amrita; Wang, Shanbo; Liang, Lili; Yang, Shiqing; Wang, Hongxia; Tan, Xiaoyan; Du, Jingyuan; Jin, Susu; Huang, Kecheng; Jiang, Fanrong; Zhang, Shun; Zheng, Nanhong; Hu, Yaoren; Cai, Ting; Aithal, Guruprasad P

The study aimed to investigate whether specific medications used in the treatment chronic diseases affected either the development and/ or severity of COVID-19 in a cohort of 610 COVID-19 cases and 48,667 population-based controls from Zheijang, China. Using a cohort of 578 COVID-19 cases and 48,667 population-based controls from Zheijang, China we tested the role of usage of cardiovascular, antidiabetic and other medications on risk and severity of COVID 19. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex and BMI and for presence of relevant comorbidities. Individuals with hypertension taking calcium channel blockers had significantly increased risk [odds ratio (OR)= 1.73 (95% CI 1.2-2.3)] of manifesting symptoms of COVID-19 whereas those taking angiotensin receptor blockers and diuretics had significantly lower disease risk (OR=0.22; 95%CI 0.15-0.30 and OR=0.30; 95%CI 0.19-0.58 respectively). Among those with type 2 diabetes, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (OR= 6.02; 95% CI 2.3-15.5) and insulin (OR= 2.71; 95% CI 1.6-5.5) were more and glucosidase inhibitors were less prevalent (OR= 0.11; 95% CI 0.1-0.3) among with COVID-19 patients. Drugs used in the treatment of hypertension and diabetes influence the risk of development of COVID-19, but, not its severity.