The Cross-Talk between Age, Hypertension and Inflammation in COVID-19 Patients: Therapeutic Targets

AbstractThis paper presents a brief overview of the complex interaction between age, hypertension, the renin –angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS), inflammation, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) infection. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is more frequent and more severe in comorbid elderly patients, especially those with hypertension, diabetes, obesity, or cardiovasc ular diseases. There are concerns regarding the use of RAAS inhibitors in patients with COVID-19. Some physicians have considered the need for interrupting RAAS inhibition in order to reduce the possibility of SARS-CoV2 entering lung cells after binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) rece ptors. We offer a different point of view in relation to the need for continuing to use RAAS inhibitors in patients with COVID-19. We focused our article on elderly patients because of the distinctive imbalance between the immune response, which is depressed, and the exacerbated inflammatory respons e, ‘inflammaging’, which makes the geriatric patient an appropriate candidate for therapeutic strategies aimed at modulating the inflammatory response. Indeed, COVID-19 is an inflammatory storm that starts and worsens during the course of the disease. During the COVID-19 pandemic, various therap eutic approaches have been tested, including antiviral drugs, interferon, anti-interleukins, hydroxychloroquine, anti-inflammatories, immunoglobulins from recovered patients, and heparin...
Source: Drugs and Aging - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research