Dr. Anant Patil throws light on the ongoing discussion about the use of certain drugs in the context of COVID-19, Ibuprofen being one of them.

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After the outbreak of pneumonia associated with the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), also known as Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which started in  December 2019, in Wuhan, China and subsequently spread worldwide, there is an ongoing discussion about the use of two important classes of drugs used for hypertension i.e. angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and another drug ibuprofen used for the treatment of pain and inflammation.

Studies [1,2,3] from China have shown cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes to be common comorbidities in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 disease. The use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) is common in the treatment of these comorbidities. It has been suggested that SARS-CoV-2 binds to target cells through angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) [4] and ACE2 expression can be increased by ACEIs, ARBs, thiazolidinediones, and ibuprofen. [5]