Many countries around the world are experiencing shortages of tocilizumab, an immunosuppressive drug that has become the standard of care for treating severe cases of COVID-19.
A new study from Yale and elsewhere found that using a lower dose of tocilizumab than has been standard is also effective in treating severe cases, and allows up to twice as many patients to be treated.
They found lower dosages are also the cost-effective approach in the context of low supply.
The study is published in The Lancet Regional Health—Americas and was conducted by George Goshua et al.
Tocilizumab is a monoclonal antibody typically used for rheumatoid arthritis that blocks one of the key cytokines, a group of small proteins, that drive respiratory failure, and death in COVID-19.
It has been widely adopted as a treatment, but surging demand and limitations on drug production led to widespread shortages beginning in the spring of 2021.
Canada is among the countries experiencing shortages of tocilizumab, and in order to treat more patients, British Columbia opted to switch from a weight-based dosage (8 milligrams per kilogram of body weight), which is protocol, to a lower, fixed-dose of 400 milligrams.
That is about half the typical total dosage for adults, on average.
In the study, the researchers compared health outcomes across three groups: 40 patients who received the weight-based dose, 59 patients who received the fixed-dose, and 53 patients who were not treated with tocilizumab and served as a control group.
Patients who received either dose of tocilizumab showed dramatic reductions in inflammation. The team found for both groups, measures of inflammation dropped by over 90% within five days, reductions that were much larger than those of patients not treated with tocilizumab.
Additionally, the death rates over 28 days were similar across the three groups.
Together, the findings show that in the context of ongoing drug shortages, the fixed-dose of tocilizumab is a practical, feasible, and economical option that benefits a larger number of patients.
Recent studies have found the key to curing COVID-19, and this old drug can save your life from COVID-19, which are relevant to the current study.
In a recent study at Columbia University and published in Nature Communications, researchers found that people who took statins to lower cholesterol were approximately 50% less likely to die if hospitalized for COVID-19.
They say that if their beneficial effect bears out in randomized clinical trials, statins could potentially prove to be a low-cost and effective therapeutic strategy for COVID-19.
Previously, the team had found that COVID-19 patients who got very sick and required hospitalization had high rates of hyper-inflammation and clotting.
As cardiologists, statins naturally came to their minds. In addition to their well-known cholesterol-lowering effect, statins are known for their anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, and immunomodulatory properties.
Based on these observations, the team looked at outcomes for 2,626 patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to a quaternary academic medical center in Manhattan during the first 18 weeks of the pandemic.
They compared 648 patients who regularly used statins before developing COVID-19 to 648 patients who did not use statins.
The team found among the statin users, 96 (14.8%) died in the hospital within 30 days of admission compared with 172 (26.5%) of patients who did not use statins.
When other differences among the patients were factored in, they found that statin use was strongly linked to a 50% reduction in in-hospital mortality (within 30 days).
Patients on statins also tended to have lower levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation.
The current study is one of the larger studies confirming the association. Smaller retrospective studies out of North America and Europe have found similar results.
If you care about Covid, please read studies about old drug that could save your life from COVID-19, and findings of a new way to prevent many COVID-19 variants.
For more information about Covid, please see recent studies about why some people are less naturally resistant to COVID-19, and results showing scientists find new treatment option for COVID-19.
Copyright © 2022 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
