Exploring the impact of ursodeoxycholic acid therapy on COVID-19 in a real-word setting

Abstract

Recent data suggest that ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) therapy may reduce susceptibility to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and even improve clinical outcomes when coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) was diagnosed. However, clinical evidence of UDCA's ability to prevent severe forms of COVID-19 remains limited and contradictory. We evaluated the association between UDCA exposure and the risk of hospitalization for COVID-19 in a large multicenter population of patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) followed during the pandemic period before vaccination. An exposed/unexposed cohort study and a nested case-control study were performed. The primary endpoint was severe COVID-19, defined as SARS-CoV2 infection requiring hospitalization. The secondary endpoint was COVID-19-associated intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and their confidence intervals (CI) were determined after controlling for age, gender, comorbidities at risk for COVID-19, severity of CLD, and prior hospitalizations. A total of 10 147 patients, including 1322 exposed and 8825 not exposed to UDCA, totaling 21 867 person-years of follow-up, were included in the cohort analysis, while 88 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and 840 matched controls were eligible for the nested case-control analysis. In both analyses, exposure to UDCA was not associated with a significant reduction in the risk of hospitalization for COVID-19, with aOR (95% confidence interval) values of 0.48 (0.20-1.19) and 0.93 (0.26-3.29), respectively. Furthermore, there was no significant reduction in the risk of ICU admission or death. In this large population of patients with CLD, UDCA exposure was not associated with a reduced risk of severe COVID-19.

Keywords: PBC; PSC; SARS-CoV-2; UDCA; chronic liver disease.