No higher COVID-19 risk from hypertension drugs 

Pharmacists, the medical community and many patients have been concerned that widely-used drugs called RAS blockers used to treat patients with hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetic kidney disease might increase the risk of developing a severe and fatal COVID-19 infection. 

An editorial published March 25 in the journal Hypertension reports there is no current cause for concern. 

“There is no existing evidence that the effect of these drugs has caused worsening of COVID-19,” said co-author Daniel Batlle, the Earle, del Greco, Levin Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine nephrologist. “The answer will come as more data from the studies in patients accrue over the next weeks or months, but for now there is no reason to stop these medications.”

Some animal studies have shown these classes of medication increase the protein ACE-2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2), which is the receptor that provides a route for SARS-CoV-2 to enter the human body.  

“We wanted to reassure the medical community, patients and pharmacists that for now there is no rationale to discontinue medications that are critically important in the treatment of hypertension, diabetic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease,” Batlle said.   

RAS blockers consist of ACE Inhibitors and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers. These drugs by different mechanisms block the actions of a peptide that causes narrowing of blood vessels and fluid retention by the kidneys, which result in increased blood pressure. The drugs help blood vessels relax and expand and decrease fluid retention, both of which lower blood pressure. 

“The beneficial effects of these medications clearly outweigh any unproven risks in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, and there is no reason to abandon their use. Our view is shared by many medical societies including the American Heart Association and the American Society of Nephrology," Batlle said.