WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine report that a type of drug already used to treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes, when taken six months prior to the diagnosis of COVID-19, was associated with a decreased risk of hospitalization, respiratory complications and death in COVID-19 patients with Type 2 diabetes.
They are studying how GLP-1R agonists could be used to treat substance use disorders.
They hypothesized that patients with Type 2 diabetes who are taking these same medications, which they estimate to be less than 15% of Type 2 diabetes patients in the U.S., might have some level of protection from severe COVID-19 outcomes based on their anti-inflammatory properties. Patients with Type 2 diabetes often struggle with dysregulated inflammation, or swelling of body tissues. Overactive inflammatory responses have been implicated in severe COVID-19 cases and deaths.
The researchers found that patients with Type 2 diabetes who were taking GLP-1R agonists within six months prior to their COVID-19 diagnosis were significantly less likely to be hospitalized, have respiratory complications and die from the disease for 28 days following their diagnosis when compared to patients similar in age, race, ethnicity, body mass index and pre-existing conditions.