Blood pressure medication suppresses mortality risk in COVID-19 patients

December 15, 2020

Lugano – A study has shown that medication commonly and safely prescribed to treat high blood pressure reduces the risk of death in COVID-19 patients by more than 60 percent. Sophisticated biostatistical methods were used to uncover this finding from complex data sets.

A study conducted in the canton of Ticino on COVID patients during the first wave of infections in the spring has investigated whether RAASi (renin-angiotensin system inhibitors) drugs can have a positive impact on the progression of this disease. According to a press release issued by the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI: University of Italian Switzerland), the research group discovered that the risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients, who would generally be considered at higher risk of death on account of their age or renal/cardiovascular disorders, was reduced by over 60 percent.

RAASi drugs have an effect of the renin-angiotension system, which is a kind of control circuit comprising various hormones and enzymes that serves to regulate blood pressure and the fluid balance of the human body. Drugs that are routinely prescribed to treat high blood pressure – known as hypertension in medical circles – target this system. These include ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers and aldosterone antagonists.

A multidisciplinary team of clinical and statistical experts from the association of hospitals in the canton of Ticino (Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, EOC), USI and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy, were brought together to collaborate on this study. The research group analyzed the data of 576 patients overall with an average age of 72. Sophisticated biostatistical methods including Machine Learning processes were able to uncover the contextual relationship between administering RAASi drugs and a reduction in inflammation – all in spite of the challenges posed by the overlapping nature of personal, clinical and pharmacological elements.

Alessandro Ceschi, Head of the Institute of Pharmacological Sciences at USI as well as Director of the EOC Clinical Trial Unit (EOC-CTU) and Professor at the USI Faculty of Biomedical Science, praised the “innovative and rigorous approach” of this work and the benefits it will provide: “These data may contribute to the design of randomized-controlled clinical trials that will definitively clarify the role of these drugs in COVID-19, to the benefit of patient care”.