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Meta-Analysis
. 2020 Aug:158:104927.
doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.104927. Epub 2020 May 15.

ACEI/ARB use and risk of infection or severity or mortality of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Xue Zhang  1 , Jiong Yu  1 , Li-Ya Pan  1 , Hai-Yin Jiang  2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

ACEI/ARB use and risk of infection or severity or mortality of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Xue Zhang et al. Pharmacol Res. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

The effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) on the risk of COVID-19 infection and disease progression are yet to be investigated. The relationship between ACEI/ARB use and COVID-19 infection was systematically reviewed. To identify relevant studies that met predetermined inclusion criteria, unrestricted searches of the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were conducted. The search strategy included clinical date published until May 9, 2020. Twelve articles involving more than 19,000 COVID-19 cases were included. To estimate overall risk, random-effects models were adopted. Our results showed that ACEI/ARB exposure was not associated with a higher risk of COVID-19 infection (OR = 0.99; 95 % CI, 0-1.04; P = 0.672). Among those with COVID-19 infection, ACEI/ARB exposure was also not associated with a higher risk of having severe infection (OR = 0.98; 95 % CI, 0.87-1.09; P = 0.69) or mortality (OR = 0.73, 95 %CI, 0.5-1.07; P = 0.111). However, ACEI/ARB exposure was associated with a lower risk of mortality compared to those on non-ACEI/ARB antihypertensive drugs (OR = 0.48, 95 % CI, 0.29-0.81; P = 0.006). In conclusion, current evidence did not confirm the concern that ACEI/ARB exposure is harmful in patientswith COVID-19 infection. This study supports the current guidelines that discourage discontinuation of ACEIs or ARBs in COVID-19 patients and the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Antihypertensive; Hypertension; Meta-analysis; Systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing interest. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart showing the meta-analysis studies selection.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot of ACEI/ARB exposure and risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot of ACEI/ARB exposure and risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients with antihypertensive indication.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot of ACEI/ARB exposure and risk of severity of COVID-19.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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