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ABSTRACT: Background
Colchicine is an available, safe, and effective anti-inflammatory drug and has been suggested as a COVID-19 treatment, but its usefulness in hospitalized severe COVID-19 patients has not been thoroughly demonstrated.Objective
To address the safety and efficacy of colchicine in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19.Design
We conducted a triple-blind parallel non-stratified placebo-controlled clinical trial.Participants
We recruited 116 hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 in Mexico.Interventions
Patients were randomized to receive 1.5 mg of colchicine or placebo at the time of the recruitment in the study (baseline) and 0.5 mg BID PO to complete 10 days of treatment.Main measures
The primary composite outcome was the progression to critical disease or death. Besides, we evaluated immunological features at baseline and after recovery or disease progression in 20 patients.Key results
Fifty-six patients were allocated to colchicine and 60 patients received placebo. The study was suspended after the second interim analysis demonstrated colchicine had no effect on the primary outcome (OR 0.83, 95%CI 0.35-1.93, P = 0.67), nor in the days of ICU and hospital stays. Adverse events were similar between groups (OR 1.63, 95% CI 0.66-3.88, P = 0.37). After colchicine treatment, patients had higher BUN and lower serum levels of IL-8, IL-12p70, and IL-17A.Conclusions
Colchicine is safe but not effective in the treatment of severe COVID-19.Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04367168.
SUBMITTER: Absalon-Aguilar A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8577644 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature