Association of Use of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers With Testing Positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

What Was Tested

This observational study looks at Angiotensin II.

To study the association between use of ACEIs/ARBs with the likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19 and to study outcome data in subsets of patients taking ACEIs/ARBs who tested positive with severity of clinical outcomes of COVID-19 (eg, hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, and requirement for mechanical ventilation).

Why It Was Studied

The role of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) in the setting of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is hotly debated.

There have been recommendations to discontinue these medications, which are essential in the treatment of several chronic disease conditions, while, in the absence of clinical evidence, professional societies have advocated their continued use.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

All patients tested for COVID-19 between March 8 and April 12, 2020, were included.

How the Study Was Run

Retrospective cohort study with overlap propensity score weighting was conducted at the Cleveland Clinic Health System in Ohio and Florida.

What Was Measured

History of taking ACEIs or ARBs at the time of COVID-19 testing.

The subject headings attached to it are Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors, Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, COVID-19 Testing, Clinical Laboratory Techniques and Coronavirus Infections.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is an observational study of Angiotensin II.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 10 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2020 (JAMA cardiology), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Angiotensin II compound page, all human trials.