Osteoporosis drugs reduce infection rate – healing practice

Osteoporosis drugs to protect against COVID-19?

Typical treatments for osteoporosis appear to be associated with a protective effect against COVID-19 and could specifically reduce the infection rate by 30 to 40 percent.

Drugs used for osteoporosis appear to protect people from developing COVID-19, according to a study involving researchers from Hospital del Mar, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Pompeu Fabra University, and Health Park Virgili Pears. The results of the cross-sectional study were published in the English-language journal “Aging”.

What is a protective effect based on?

There are indications that allow the hypothesis that some drugs for the treatment of rheumatic diseases could have a positive effect on the course of COVID-19, reports study author Dr. Jordi Monfort. This protective effect could include both a reduced incidence of the disease and a less frequent progression to more severe cases.

The study used data from over 2,000 people with osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia treated in the rheumatology service of the Ospedale del Mar (Barcelona, ​​Spain). The cumulative incidence of COVID-19 from March 1 to May 3, 2020 in this group was compared with the population estimates for the same city.

What was investigated?

The starting point for the new study was the Hospital del Mar researchers’ perception of a low incidence of the pandemic in some of the people treated there. The team then examined the possible connections between various treatments in rheumatology patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections, their development, the need for hospital stays and mortality.

Reduce the incidence by up to 40 percent

In the case of some of the best osteoporosis treatments (with denosumab, zoledronate, and calcium), the data suggests a significant reduction in the incidence of COVID-19 in people taking these drugs, the researchers point out. In practice, the decrease in incidence was between 30 and 40 percent.

“The study suggests that some of these treatments could protect people from COVID-19 infection, although more studies need to be done with more people to prove it,” said study author Dr. Josep Blanch-Rubio. Hospital del Mar in a press release.

How do they protect denosumab and zoledronate?

Denosumab targets the so-called RANK / RANKL system, the inhibition of which alters the inflammatory reaction, and acts on cytokines, which play a key role in COVID-19 infection, the researchers report. Zoledronate can also modulate the immune response and stimulate its activity against SARS-CoV-2.

Duloxetine might also protect

The findings also suggest that another popular treatment, the antidepressant duloxetine, may also have a positive effect in reducing the incidence of COVID-19. In contrast, the commonly used pain reliever pregabalin appears to have a tendency to increase the incidence of the disease, the team explains.

Further studies are ongoing

In particular, the promising results that have been achieved with duloxetine are significant, and further studies are now underway to verify its possible positive effects on COVID-19, the researchers report. (such as)