Viruses (Aug 2023)

Ursodeoxycholic Acid Does Not Improve COVID-19 Outcome in Hospitalized Patients

  • Francesca Colapietro,
  • Giovanni Angelotti,
  • Chiara Masetti,
  • Dana Shiffer,
  • Nicola Pugliese,
  • Stella De Nicola,
  • Francesco Carella,
  • Antonio Desai,
  • Monica Ormas,
  • Marta Calatroni,
  • Paolo Omodei,
  • Michele Ciccarelli,
  • Stefano Aliberti,
  • Francesco Reggiani,
  • Michele Bartoletti,
  • Maurizio Cecconi,
  • Ana Lleo,
  • Alessio Aghemo,
  • Antonio Voza

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/v15081738
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 8
p. 1738

Abstract

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Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) was demonstrated to reduce susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro and improve infection course in chronic liver diseases. However, real-life evidence is lacking. We analyzed the impact of UDCA on COVID-19 outcomes in patients hospitalized in a tertiary center. Between January 2020 and January 2023, among 3847 patients consecutively hospitalized for COVID19, 57 (=UDCA group) were taking UDCA. The UDCA and the control groups (n = 3790) did not differ concerning comorbidities including diabetes mellitus type 2 (15.8% vs. 12.8%) and neoplasia (12.3% vs. 9.4%). Liver diseases and vaccination rate were more common in the UDCA group (14.0% vs. 2.5% and 54.4% vs. 30.2%, respectively). Overall mortality and CPAP treatment were 22.8 % and 15.7% in the UDCA, and 21.3% and 25.9% in the control group. Mortality was similar (p = 0.243), whereas UDCA was associated with a lower rate of CPAP treatment (OR = 0.76, p < 0.05). Treatment with UDCA was not an independent predictor of survival in patients hospitalized for COVID-19.

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