A recent study in which the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and the Neuropharmacology Laboratory of the Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University (DCEXS-UPF), together with other entities such as the Hospital del Mar and the Pere Virgili Health Park, has found a decrease of between 30 and 40% of the incidence of COVID-19 in patients treated with osteoporosis.
After analyzing the data of more than 2,000 patients, the authors point out that the cause could be that some of the main treatments for osteoporosis, such as denosumab, zoledronate and calcium, would interfere with different pathways of action of SARS-CoV-2 infection, thus reducing the number of infections and/or serious evolution of the disease.
“The study suggests that some of these treatments could protect patients from Covid-19 infection, although we need more studies with more patients to prove it.”
Josep Blanch-Rubió
(head of the Reumatology Department and researcher at the IMIM)
The results, to be confirmed with studies with more patients, are a fantastic starting point for further research into the potential benefits of antiosteopotorotic treatments against COVID-19.
Blanch J, Soldevila N, Tío L, Llorente-Onaindia J, Ciria M, Polino L, Gurt A, de la Torre R, Maldonado R, Monfort J, Group TCS. Influence of anti-osteoporosis treatments on the incidence of COVID-19 in patients with non-inflammatory rheumatic conditions. Aging (Albany NY) 2020; 12:
