Glucose-lowering drugs have neutral effect on mortality, adverse outcomes in COVID-19 patients with type 2 diabetes

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 30 2020

In a preprint paper, "Impact of Glucose-Lowering Drugs on Mortality and Other Adverse Outcomes in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Admitted for COVID-19," researchers conclude a neutral effect on mortality and other adverse outcomes. Though, given the close relationship between diabetes and COVID-19, they call for more prospective studies.

In their peer reviews of the study, Susanna Hofmann (Division Head, Helmholtz Diabetes Center) and Tamaryn Fox (Internal Medicine, Albert Einstein Medical Center) write in MIT Press Journal Rapid Reviews: COVID-19 that the study is reliable, but would require further research. Their conclusion: "While this study is strong, drugs used during the hospital stay were not noted, making these conclusions hard to generalize."

Fox notes the need for this type of research: "There is a paucity of evidence concerning the impact of glucose-lowering drugs and their effect on those infected with COVID-19; thus, this study is relevant and brings insight to this ever-growing topic."

While Hofmann notes the study may be useful to point of care providers, writing, "Importantly, the authors report here valuable information how glucose-lowering drugs taken by [Type 2 Diabetes] patients at home affect hospital stay outcomes. This knowledge may come in very handy at hospital admission and for the treatment strategy during the hospital stay of these patients."

The RR:C19 Editorial Board highlights this research saying, "With Type 2 Diabetes being a known risk factor of COVID-19 and affecting millions worldwide, it is urgent to know whether the use of glucose lowering medications contributes to a patient's risk of mortality or ICU admission if they are diagnosed with COVID-19. In this study, administering commonly-administered drugs did not pose additional risk of ICU admission or hospital death as a result of COVID-19."

Original research project

Impact of Glucose-Lowering Drugs on Mortality and Other Adverse Outcomes in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Admitted for COVID-19

Pérez-Belmonte, Luis Miguel and Torres-Peña, José David and López-Carmona, María D. and Ayala-Gutiérrez, M. Mar and Fuentes-Jiménez, Francisco and Jorge Huerta, Lucía and Alonso Muñoz, Jaime and Rubio-Rivas, Manuel and Madrazo, Manel and Guzmán Garcia, Marcos and Vicente Montes, Beatriz and Fernández Sola, Joaquim and Ena, Javier and Gonzalez Ferrer, Ruth and Mella Pérez, Carmen and Ripper, Carlos J. and Napal Lecumberri, Jose Javier and El Attar Acedo, Iris and Plaza Canteli, Susana and Fuente Cosío, Sara and Amorós Martínez, Francisco and Cortés Rodríguez, Begoña and Pérez-Martínez, Pablo and Ramos-Rincón, José M. and Gómez-Huelgas, Ricardo and Group, SEMI-COVID-19 Network.

Find peer reviews and information about this study at Rapid Reviews website.

• Peer review 1 by Susanna Hofmann - Evidence Scale Rating: Reliable
• Peer review 2 by Tamaryn Fox - Evidence Scale Rating: Potentially informative

Summary of reviews: Glucose-lowering medications have a neutral effect on mortality and adverse outcomes in those with Type 2 Diabetes hospitalized. While this study is strong, drugs used during the hospital stay were not noted, making these conclusions hard to generalize.