PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Roos S G Sablerolles AU - Freija E F Hogenhuis AU - Melvin Lafeber AU - Bob P A van de Loo AU - Sander D Borgsteede AU - Eric Boersma AU - Jorie Versmissen AU - Hugo M van der Kuy ED - , TI - COvid MEdicaTion (COMET) study: protocol for a cohort study AID - 10.1136/ejhpharm-2020-002329 DP - 2020 Jul 01 TA - European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy PG - 191--193 VI - 27 IP - 4 4099 - http://ejhp.bmj.com/content/27/4/191.short 4100 - http://ejhp.bmj.com/content/27/4/191.full SO - Eur J Hosp Pharm2020 Jul 01; 27 AB - Various theories about drugs such as ACE inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) in relation to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 are circulating in both mainstream media and medical literature. These are based on the fact that ACE2 facilitates SARS-CoV-2 cell invasion via binding of a viral spike protein to ACE2. However, the effect of ACE inhibitors, ARBs and other drugs on ACE2 is unclear and all theories are based on conflicting evidence mainly from animal studies. Therefore, clinical evidence is urgently needed. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between use of these drugs on clinical outcome of patients with COVID-19. Patients will be included from several hospitals in Europe. Data will be collected in a user-friendly database (Digitalis) on an external server. Analyses will be adjusted for sex, age and presence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes. These results will enable more rational choices for randomised controlled trials for preventive and therapeutic strategies in COVID-19.