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Ambroxol for the treatment of COVID-19 among hospitalized patients: A multicenter retrospective cohort study

Authors :
Yun Lu
Qing-qing Yang
Lin Zhuo
Kun Yang
Hao Kou
Su-yu Gao
Wen Hu
Qiao-li Jiang
Wen-jing Li
Dong-fang Wu
Feng Sun
Hong Cheng
Siyan Zhan
Source :
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 13 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
Frontiers Media S.A., 2022.

Abstract

Ambroxol is a commonly used mucolytic agent principally used to treat respiratory diseases, which may have a role as adjunctive therapy for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, but there is lack of evidence about its effectiveness on coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients. To study the association between ambroxol use and clinical outcomes among hospitalized patients of COVID-19 infection. We conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort study involving 3,111 patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection from three hospitals in Wuhan from 19 December 2019 to 15 April 2020, and the primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. COVID-19 patients were classified into ambroxol and non-ambroxol groups based on the administration of ambroxol during hospitalization. Two analyses including propensity score matching (PSM) to obtain a 1:1 balanced cohort and logistic regression were used to control for confounding factors. The average age of 3,111 patients was 57.55 ± 14.93 years old, 127 of them died during hospitalization, and 924 of them used ambroxol. Treatment with ambroxol did not have a significant effect on in-hospital mortality of COVID-19 patients when compared with non-ambroxol in PSM model after adjusting for confounders (8.0% vs. 3.5%, adjusted OR, 1.03 [95% CI, 0.54–1.97], p = 0.936). Adverse events such as nausea/vomiting, headache, and rash were comparable between the two groups. Our results suggest that the use of ambroxol is not significantly associated with in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients, which provides evidence for evaluating the effects of ambroxol on COVID-19 patient outcomes and may be helpful for physicians considering medication alternatives for COVID-19 patients.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1664302X
Volume :
13
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Frontiers in Microbiology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.3f752083f814baa9e1275a7e03a5a63
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1013038