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Diabetes Drug Sitagliptin Boosts Survival in Diabetic Patients With COVID-19

by Colleen Fleiss on Sep 30 2020 1:45 AM

Diabetes Drug Sitagliptin Boosts Survival in Diabetic Patients With COVID-19
Diabetes drug Sitagliptin was found to boost survival in type 2 diabetic patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, suggested a multicenter observational study in Italy published in Diabetes Care.
Patients given sitagliptin and insulin had a mortality rate of 18 percent compared with 37 percent in matched patients receiving only insulin.

Led by Paolo Fiorina, MD, PhD, of Boston Children's Hospital, the study involved seven Italian hospitals during the first surge of COVID cases last spring.

"We think it's reasonable to try sitagliptin if a patient is admitted to the hospital with type 2 diabetes and COVID," says Fiorina, a diabetes researcher affiliated with the Boston Children's division of nephrology and the University of Milan. "I'm excited about our findings, because we still have very few therapeutic options for the many diabetic patients affected by COVID."

Fiorina and colleagues believe sitagliptin could also work in nondiabetic patients with COVID.

Why Anti-diabetic drug Sitagliptin in COVID-19 Fight

Sitagliptin blocks DPP-4, a class of oral hypoglycemics, and has anti-inflammatory effects, decreasing the production of the cytokine IL-6. Cytokine IL-6 contributes to the "cytokine storm" that can cause organ complications in COVID-19.

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"We decided to try sitagliptin and collect the data," says Fiorina.

"COVID-19 mortality in diabetic patients is high, and the drug is very safe, so we felt there was no reason not to use it."

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Study Design and Findings
  • 338 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes and COVID-19 pneumonia admitted to seven academic hospitals in northern Italy from March 1 through April 30, 2020, were enrolled for the study.
  • 169 were given only IV insulin for their type 2 diabetes.
  • Patients receiving sitagliptin had decreased mortality and were more likely to improve clinically.
Patients treated with sitagliptin were:
  • Less likely to need mechanical ventilation, intensive care, and worsening of clinical outcomes.
  • More likely to have at least a 2-point drop on a 7-point scale of disease severity.
"We must now confirm our findings in a placebo-controlled, prospective study," says Fiorina.

Source-Medindia


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