Abstract
BackgroundTocilizumab (TCZ), an interleukin-6 receptor antibody, has previously been used for treating patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but there is a lack of data regarding the administration timing of TCZ.ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate the timing and efficacy of TCZ in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.MethodsLaboratory-confirmed patients with COVID-19 with an elevated interleukin-6 (IL-6) level (>10 pg/ml) were offered TCZ intravenously for compassionate use. Clinical characteristics, laboratory tests, and chest imaging before and after the administration of TCZ were retrospectively analyzed.ResultsA total of 58 consecutive patients who met the inclusion criteria and with no compliance to the exclusion criteria were included. Of these 58 patients, 39 patients received TCZ treatment, and 19 patients who declined TCZ treatment were used as the control cohort. In the TCZ-treatment group, 6 patients (15.4%) were in mild condition, 16 (41.0%) were in severe condition, and 17 (43.6%) were in critical condition. After TCZ treatment, the condition of 27 patients (69.2%) improved and 12 (30.8%) died. Compared with the improvement group, patients in the death group had higher baseline levels of IL-6 (P = 0.0191) and procalcitonin (PCT) (P = 0.0003) and lower lymphocyte percentage (LYM) (P = 0.0059). Patients receiving TCZ treatment had better prognoses than those without TCZ treatment (P = 0.0273). Furthermore, patients with a baseline IL-6 level of ≥100 pg/ml in the TCZ-treatment group had poorer clinical outcomes than those with an IL-6 level of <100 pg/ml (P = 0.0051).ConclusionThe administration of TCZ in an early stage of cytokine storm (IL-6 level < 100 pg/ml) may effectively improve the clinical prognosis of patients with COVID-19 by blocking the IL-6 signal pathway.
Highlights
Ever since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in December 2019, the disease rapidly continues to spread and has been declared a global pandemic (Wang et al, 2020)
The levels of serum proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines were found to increase in patients with COVID19, including tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-induced protein 10 (IP-10), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, and IL-10 (Chen N. et al, 2020; Huang et al, 2020)
Of note is that a large number of studies have shown that the levels of IL-6 were significantly higher in patients with severe COVID-19 as compared to those in uncomplicated individuals (Chen G. et al, 2020; Ye et al, 2020)
Summary
Ever since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in December 2019, the disease rapidly continues to spread and has been declared a global pandemic (Wang et al, 2020). The levels of serum proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines were found to increase in patients with COVID19, including tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-induced protein 10 (IP-10), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, and IL-10 (Chen N. et al, 2020; Huang et al, 2020). Of note is that a large number of studies have shown that the levels of IL-6 were significantly higher in patients with severe COVID-19 as compared to those in uncomplicated individuals (Chen G. et al, 2020; Ye et al, 2020). These findings suggest that IL-6 might play a vital role in the severe deterioration of some patients. Tocilizumab (TCZ), an interleukin-6 receptor antibody, has previously been used for treating patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but there is a lack of data regarding the administration timing of TCZ
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