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. 2023 Aug 14;15(8):1738.
doi: 10.3390/v15081738.

Ursodeoxycholic Acid Does Not Improve COVID-19 Outcome in Hospitalized Patients

Francesca Colapietro  1   2 , Giovanni Angelotti  1   3 , Chiara Masetti  2 , Dana Shiffer  1   4 , Nicola Pugliese  1   2 , Stella De Nicola  2 , Francesco Carella  1 , Antonio Desai  1   4 , Monica Ormas  2 , Marta Calatroni  1   5 , Paolo Omodei  6 , Michele Ciccarelli  7 , Stefano Aliberti  1   7 , Francesco Reggiani  1   5 , Michele Bartoletti  1   8 , Maurizio Cecconi  1   9 , Ana Lleo  1   2 , Alessio Aghemo  1   2 , Antonio Voza  1   4
Affiliations

Ursodeoxycholic Acid Does Not Improve COVID-19 Outcome in Hospitalized Patients

Francesca Colapietro et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) was demonstrated to reduce susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro and improve infection course in chronic liver diseases. However, real-life evidence is lacking. We analyzed the impact of UDCA on COVID-19 outcomes in patients hospitalized in a tertiary center. Between January 2020 and January 2023, among 3847 patients consecutively hospitalized for COVID19, 57 (=UDCA group) were taking UDCA. The UDCA and the control groups (n = 3790) did not differ concerning comorbidities including diabetes mellitus type 2 (15.8% vs. 12.8%) and neoplasia (12.3% vs. 9.4%). Liver diseases and vaccination rate were more common in the UDCA group (14.0% vs. 2.5% and 54.4% vs. 30.2%, respectively). Overall mortality and CPAP treatment were 22.8 % and 15.7% in the UDCA, and 21.3% and 25.9% in the control group. Mortality was similar (p = 0.243), whereas UDCA was associated with a lower rate of CPAP treatment (OR = 0.76, p < 0.05). Treatment with UDCA was not an independent predictor of survival in patients hospitalized for COVID-19.

Keywords: ACE2; COVID-19; UDCA.

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Conflict of interest statement

All the authors have given substantial contribution to the completion of this work and have seen and approved the text in the current version. None reported a conflict of interest with respect to this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Correlations with CPAP treatment and in-hospital mortality. CPAP: continuous positive airway pressure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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