No association found for prescription of methotrexate with increased risk for COVID-19 or COVID-19-related death<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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THURSDAY, Sept. 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The risk for COVID-19 diagnosis and COVID-19-related death is increased for individuals prescribed folic acid supplementation, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in BMJ Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Ruth Topless, from the University of Otago in New Zealand, and colleagues examined whether methotrexate or folic acid prescription was associated with the differential risk for COVID-19 diagnosis or mortality in a case-control analysis using data from 380,380 U.K. Biobank participants. A total of 26,003 individuals were identified with COVID-19, 820 of whom were known to have died from COVID-19.<\/p>\n The researchers found that people prescribed folic acid supplementation had an increased risk for COVID-19 diagnosis compared with those prescribed neither folic acid nor methotrexate (odds ratio, 1.51). There was no association between prescription of methotrexate with or without folic acid and COVID-19 diagnosis. A positive association was seen with death after a diagnosis of COVID-19 for people prescribed folic acid supplementation (odds ratio, 2.64). No association was observed between the prescription of methotrexate in combination with folic acid and an increased risk for COVID-19-related death.<\/p>\n “Our findings justify future studies on the influence of folic acid supplementation on COVID-19 outcomes, particularly in pregnant women and people on anticonvulsants requiring supplementary folic acid,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Two authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical, medical device, and health technology industries.<\/p>\n