Effect of intravenous pulses of methylprednisolone 250 mg versus dexamethasone 6 mg in hospitalised adults with severe COVID-19 pneumonia: An open-label randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and safety of high versus medium doses of glucocorticoids for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 has shown mixed outcomes in controlled trials and observational studies. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of methylprednisolone 250 mg bolus versus dexamethasone 6 mg in patients with severe COVID-19. METHODS: A randomised, open-label, controlled trial was conducted between February and August 2021 at four hospitals in Spain. The trial was suspended after the first interim analysis since the investigators considered that continuing the trial would be futile. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive dexamethasone 6 mg once daily for up to 10 days or methylprednisolone 250 mg once daily for 3 days. RESULTS: Of the 128 randomised patients, 125 were analysed (mean age 60 ± 17 years; 82 males [66%]). Mortality at 28 days was 4.8% in the 250 mg methylprednisolone group versus 4.8% in the 6 mg dexamethasone group (absolute risk difference, 0.1% [95% CI, -8.8 to 9.1%]; p = 0.98). None of the secondary outcomes (admission to the intensive care unit, non-invasive respiratory or high-flow oxygen support, additional immunosuppressive drugs, or length of stay), or prespecified sensitivity analyses were statistically significant. Hyperglycaemia was more frequent in the methylprednisolone group at 27.0 versus 8.1% (absolute risk difference, -18.9% [95% CI, -31.8 to - 5.6%]; p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Among severe but not critical patients with COVID-19, 250 mg/d for 3 days of methylprednisolone compared with 6 mg/d for 10 days of dexamethasone did not result in a decrease in mortality or intubation.

Relationship among angiotensin-converting enzyme polymorphism, cardiovascular risk, and osteoporotic fractures.

OBJECTIVE: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) has been related to cardiovascular physiology and bone remodeling. Our aim was to assess the relationship among ACE polymorphisms, cardiovascular risk, and osteoporotic fractures. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 71 patients with hypertension from 2001 to 2014. Sociodemographic and medical data were collected. Comorbidity was evaluated with Charlson index. Densitometric studies on lumbar spine were performed. ACE polymorphism was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction. Data were analyzed using SPSS 15.0 (p value <0.05). RESULTS: Homozygous deletion (DD) genotype was described in 32.4% of patients, homozygous insertion (II) in 19.7%, and heterozygous insertion/deletion (ID) in 47.9%. On stratifying data by ACE polymorphism, we observed that DD carriers demonstrated neither greater cardiovascular risk factors (30.4% vs. 33.3%, p=0.4) and higher comorbidity (34.8% vs. 22.9%, p=0.3) nor higher osteoporotic fracture incidence (17.4% vs. 16.8%, p=0.9). In women, no significant differences were observed between DD homozygous individuals and ID+II subjects. CONCLUSION: It is unclear whether DD genotype is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In contrast to our expectations, we found no relationship among the DD genotype, cardiovascular risk, and osteoporotic fracture incidence.