Previously, I wrote a detailed post on concerns that have been raised about certain blood pressure medications potentially increasing the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 or increasing the likelihood of death and serious disease related to the virus.
Millions of patients worldwide with heart failure and hypertension are taking drugs that inhibit pathways in the renal angiotensin aldosterone system termed angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs.)
Lisinopril and ramipril are common ACE inhibitors whereas valsartan, losartan, and irbesartan are common ARBs.
Speculation that these drugs might be contributing to mortality associated with COVID-19 was initiated by a “Rapid Response” published online March 3 by the British Medical Journal in response to an editorial on “preventing a COVID-19 pandemic.” and “Correspondence” to the Lancet published March 7.
Since then I’ve been following this topic closely but nothing has emerged from any new data or new expert analysis to suggest that patients should stop taking ACE inhibitors or ARBs.
Yesterday, an excellent summary of the topic from some of the world’s leading authorities was published in the New England Journal of Medicine entitled “Renin–Angiotensin–Aldosterone System Inhibitors in Patients with Covid-19″
It begins with this wonderful sentence: “The renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) is an elegant cascade of vasoactive peptides that orchestrate key processes in human physiology.”
The authors outline in detail the possible interactions between ACE2 receptors and SARS CoV-2.
For those not interested in the scientific details in the paper, the Cliff’s Notes version of this article is below. Basically, we have insufficient data to know if patients taking RAAS inhibitors are at higher or lower risk for serious SARS-CoV-2 infection.
KEY POINTS RELATED TO THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN COVID-19 AND THE RENIN–ANGIOTENSIN–ALDOSTERONE SYSTEM
- • ACE2, an enzyme that physiologically counters RAAS activation, is the functional receptor to SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic
- • Select preclinical studies have suggested that RAAS inhibitors may increase ACE2 expression, raising concerns regarding their safety in patients with Covid-19
- • Insufficient data are available to determine whether these observations readily translate to humans, and no studies have evaluated the effects of RAAS inhibitors in Covid-19
- • Clinical trials are under way to test the safety and efficacy of RAAS modulators, including recombinant human ACE2 and the ARB losartan in Covid-19
- • Abrupt withdrawal of RAAS inhibitors in high-risk patients, including those who have heart failure or have had myocardial infarction, may result in clinical instability and adverse health outcomes
- • Until further data are available, we think that RAAS inhibitors should be continued in patients in otherwise stable condition who are at risk for, being evaluated for, or with Covid-19
So my recommendations (and more importantly the recommendations of every major society or organization which has weighted in on this topic) to patients remain the same: don’t stop your ACE inhibitor or ARB due to concerns about coronavirus.
Skeptically Yours,
-ACP