Losartan is not effective in reducing COVID-19 lung injuries,
researchers find

Date:
March 16, 2022
Source:
University of Minnesota Medical School
Summary:
Research found that a common blood pressure medication --
losartan -- is not effective in reducing lung injury in patients
with COVID-19.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A study published in JAMA Network Open, from the University of Minnesota,
found that a common blood pressure medication -- losartan -- is not
effective in reducing lung injury in patients with COVID-19.


==========================================================================
This drug was investigated based on early reports suggesting benefit
in preclinical models of the 2003 SARS virus, a close family member
to the current SARS-CoV-2 virus. This study was conducted across 12
U.S. academic research institutions.

The U of M Medical School and School of Public Health research team
sought to determine if a common blood pressure medication might decrease
lung injury in patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. Their
results found that losartan treatment did not reduce lung injury in
patients admitted with COVID- 19, and had no effect on mortality.

The researchers also found that critically-ill patients treated with
losartan needed additional, temporary blood pressure support -- though
this did not lead to worse outcomes overall.

"Even though this particular drug was not effective for the treatment
of COVID- 19, repurposing inexpensive and relatively safe medications
remains an important approach to contain healthcare costs," said Michael Puskarich, MD, an associate professor in emergency medicine at the U of
M Medical School and co- author of this study.

"Finding effective treatments for COVID-19 that can be widely used across
both the developed and developing world remains an important ongoing area
of investigation," Puskarich said, who is also an emergency physician
at Hennepin Healthcare.

This study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The
researchers note that more studies of protein and cellular signaling
from ALPS-COVID trial participants are ongoing.

"We hope that future study findings of these proteins may show insights
into why the body responds the way it does to COVID-19," said Christopher Tignanelli, MD, MS, FACS, FAMIA, an assistant professor in surgery at
the U of M Medical School and co-author on this study. "Critically,
this will help us understand why some people develop severe disease
following COVID-19 infection and others are asymptomatic."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_Minnesota_Medical_School. Original written by Kat
Dodge. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Michael A. Puskarich, Nicholas E. Ingraham, Lisa H. Merck, Brian E.

Driver, David A. Wacker, Lauren Page Black, Alan E. Jones,
Courtney V.

Fletcher, Andrew M. South, Thomas A. Murray, Christopher
Lewandowski, Joseph Farhat, Justin L. Benoit, Michelle H. Biros,
Kartik Cherabuddi, Jeffrey G. Chipman, Timothy W. Schacker, Faheem
W. Guirgis, Helen T.

Voelker, Joseph S. Koopmeiners, Christopher J. Tignanelli,
Andrew C Nelson, Alex Hall, David Wright, Ronald A Reilkoff,
Tyler Bold, Kenneth Beckman, Ryan Langlois, Matthew T Aliota,
James Galbriath, Margaret Beyer, Chas Salmen, Dana Byrne, Brian
Roberts. Efficacy of Losartan in Hospitalized Patients With
COVID-19-Induced Lung Injury. JAMA Network Open, 2022; 5 (3):
e222735 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.2735 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220316145553.htm

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