May patients receiving 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors be in higher risk of COVID-19 complications?

Jan Adamowicz; Kajetan Juszczak; Tomasz Drewa

doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109751

May patients receiving 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors be in higher risk of COVID-19 complications?

Med Hypotheses. 2020 Jul:140:109751. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109751. Epub 2020 Apr 22.

Authors

Jan Adamowicz^{1

2}, Kajetan Juszczak¹, Tomasz Drewa¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Curie-Skłodowskiej 9, 85 094 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
² Reconstructive Urology Working Group, Young Academic Urologists, European Association of Urology, Poland.

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic is a major challenge for global and national healthcare providers. Number of new cases is continuously increasing with an emerging trend showing worse prognosis in males in comparison to females. Based on this observation, our proposed hypothesis is that 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors, that are commonly used for BPH treatment, may be one of the factors contributing to poorer prognosis in males.

MeSH terms

5-alpha Reductase Inhibitors / adverse effects*
Animals
Betacoronavirus
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections / complications*
Finasteride / adverse effects
Humans
Lung / drug effects
Lung / embryology
Male
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / complications*
Prognosis
Prostatic Hyperplasia / complications
Prostatic Hyperplasia / drug therapy
Respiratory Mucosa / drug effects
Respiratory Mucosa / embryology
SARS-CoV-2
Sex Factors

Substances

5-alpha Reductase Inhibitors
Finasteride