• Jiuyang Xu, Chaolin Huang, Guohui Fan, Zhibo Liu, Lianhan Shang, Fei Zhou, Yeming Wang, Jiapei Yu, Luning Yang, Ke Xie, Zhisheng Huang, Lixue Huang, Xiaoying Gu, Hui Li, Yi Zhang, Yimin Wang, Frederick G Hayden, Peter W Horby, Bin Cao, and Chen Wang.
• Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Medicine, Beijing, 100084, China.
• Front Med. 2020 Oct 1; 14 (5): 601-612.

AbstractThe possible effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) on COVID-19 disease severity have generated considerable debate. We performed a single-center, retrospective analysis of hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, China, who had definite clinical outcome (dead or discharged) by February 15, 2020. Patients on anti-hypertensive treatment with or without ACEI/ARB were compared on their clinical characteristics and outcomes. The medical records from 702 patients were screened. Among the 101 patients with a history of hypertension and taking at least one anti-hypertensive medication, 40 patients were receiving ACEI/ARB as part of their regimen, and 61 patients were on antihypertensive medication other than ACEI/ARB. We observed no statistically significant differences in percentages of in-hospital mortality (28% vs. 34%, P = 0.46), ICU admission (20% vs. 28%, P = 0.37) or invasive mechanical ventilation (18% vs. 26%, P = 0.31) between patients with or without ACEI/ARB treatment. Further multivariable adjustment of age and gender did not provide evidence for a significant association between ACEI/ARB treatment and severe COVID-19 outcomes. Our findings confirm the lack of an association between chronic receipt of renin-angiotensin system antagonists and severe outcomes of COVID-19. Patients should continue previous anti-hypertensive therapy until further evidence is available.

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