Proton pump inhibitor on susceptibility to COVID-19 and its severity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The negative impacts of proton pump inhibitor (PPI), including the risk of pneumonia and mortality, have been reported previously. This meta-analysis aimed to address the current interest of whether the administration of PPI could increase the susceptibility and risk of poor outcome in COVID-19. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature search from PubMed, Embase, EBSCOhost, and EuropePMC databases up until 3 December 2020. The main outcome was composite poor outcome which comprised of mortality and severe COVID-19. Severe COVID-19 in this study was defined as patients with COVID-19 that fulfill the criteria for severe CAP, including the need for intensive unit care or mechanical ventilation. The secondary outcome was susceptibility, based on cohort comparing COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative participants. RESULTS: There were a total of 290,455 patients from 12 studies in this meta-analysis. PPI use was associated with increased composite poor outcome (OR 1.85 [1.13, 3.03], p = 0.014; I(2) 90.26%). Meta-regression analysis indicate that the association does not vary by age (OR 0.97 [0.92, 1.02], p = 0.244), male (OR 1.05 [0.99, 1.11], p = 0.091), hypertension (OR 9.98 [0.95, 1.02], p = 0.317), diabetes (OR 0.99 [0.93, 1.05], p = 0.699), chronic kidney disease (OR 1.01 [0.93, 1.10], p = 0.756), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use (OR 1.02 [0.96, 1.09], p = 0.499), and pre-admission/in-hospital PPI use (OR 0.77 [0.26, 2.31], p = 0.644). PPI use was not associated with the susceptibility to COVID-19 (OR 1.56 [0.48, 5.05], p = 0.46; I(2) 99.7%). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis showed a potential association between PPI use and composite poor outcome, but not susceptibility. PROSPERO ID: CRD42020224286.