PLoS One
. 2021 May 20;16(5):e0251916.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251916. eCollection 2021.
DPP-4 inhibitors may improve the mortality of coronavirus disease 2019: A meta-analysis
Yan Yang 1 , Zixin Cai 1 , Jingjing Zhang 1
Affiliations
- PMID: 34015003
- DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251916
Abstract
Aims: DPP-4 inhibitors are predicted to exert a protective effect on the progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We conducted this meta-analysis to investigate this hypothesis.
Methods: Four databases, namely, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library, were used to identify studies on DPP-4 and COVID-19. The outcome indicators were the mortality of COVID-19. Funnel plots, Begg's tests and Egger's tests were used to assess publication bias.
Results: Four articles were included with a total of 1933 patients with COVID-19 and type 2 diabetes. The use of DPP-4 inhibitors was negatively associated with the risk of mortality (odds ratio (OR) = 0.58 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.34-0.99).
Conclusions: DPP-4 inhibitors may improve the mortality of patients with COVID-19 and type 2 diabetes. As few relevant studies are available, more large-scale studies need to be performed.