1.
A phase 2 single center open label randomised control trial for convalescent plasma therapy in patients with severe COVID-19
Ray Y, Paul SR, Bandopadhyay P, D'Rozario R, Sarif J, Raychaudhuri D, Bhowmik D, Lahiri A, Vasudevan JS, Maurya R, et al
Nature communications. 2022;13(1):383
Abstract
A single center open label phase 2 randomised control trial (Clinical Trial Registry of India No. CTRI/2020/05/025209) was done to assess clinical and immunological benefits of passive immunization using convalescent plasma therapy. At the Infectious Diseases and Beleghata General Hospital in Kolkata, India, 80 patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 disease and fulfilling the inclusion criteria (aged more than 18 years, with either mild ARDS having PaO2/FiO2 200-300 or moderate ARDS having PaO2/FiO2 100-200, not on mechanical ventilation) were recruited and randomized into either standard of care (SOC) arm (Nā=ā40) or the convalescent plasma therapy (CPT) arm (Nā=ā40). Primary outcomes were all-cause mortality by day 30 of enrolment and immunological correlates of response to therapy if any, for which plasma abundance of a large panel of cytokines was quantitated before and after intervention to assess the effect of CPT on the systemic hyper-inflammation encountered in these patients. The secondary outcomes were recovery from ARDS and time taken to negative viral RNA PCR as well as to report any adverse reaction to plasma therapy. Transfused convalescent plasma was characterized in terms of its neutralizing antibody content as well as proteome. The trial was completed and it was found that primary outcome of all-cause mortality was not significantly different among severe COVID-19 patients with ARDS randomized to two treatment arms (Mantel-Haenszel Hazard Ratio 0.6731, 95% confidence interval 0.3010-1.505, with a P value of 0.3424 on Mantel-Cox Log-rank test). No adverse effect was reported with CPT. In severe COVID-19 patients with mild or moderate ARDS no significant clinical benefit was registered in this clinical trial with convalescent plasma therapy in terms of prespecified outcomes.
2.
Combination of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and erythropoietin improves outcomes of patients with decompensated cirrhosis
Kedarisetty CK, Anand L, Bhardwaj A, Bhadoria AS, Kumar G, Vyas AK, David P, Trehanpati N, Rastogi A, Bihari C, et al
Gastroenterology. 2015;148((7)):1362-1370.e7.
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS Patients with decompensated cirrhosis have significantly reduced survival without liver transplantation. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has been shown to increase survival in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure, and erythropoietin promoted hepatic regeneration in animal studies. We performed a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to determine whether co-administration of these growth factors improved outcomes for patients with advanced cirrhosis. METHODS In a prospective study, consecutive patients with decompensated cirrhosis seen at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi (from May 2011 through June 2012) were randomly assigned to groups given subcutaneous G-CSF (5 mug/kg/d) for 5 days and then every third day (12 total doses), along with subcutaneous darbopoietin alpha(40 mcg/wk) for 4 weeks (GDP group, n = 29), or only placebos (control group, n = 26). All patients also received standard medical therapy and were followed for 12 months. Histology was performed on liver biopsies. The primary end point was survival at 12 months. RESULTS Baseline characteristics of patients were comparable; alcohol intake was the most common etiology of cirrhosis. A higher proportion of patients in the GDP group than controls survived until 12 months (68.6% vs 26.9%; P = .003). At 12 months, Child-Turcotte Pugh scores were reduced by 48.6% in the GDP group and 39.1% in the control group, from baseline (P = .001); Model for End Stage Liver Disease scores were reduced by 40.4% and 33%, respectively (P = .03). The need for large-volume paracentesis was significantly reduced in GDP group, compared with controls (P < .05). A lower proportion of patients in the GDP group developed septic shock (6.9%) during follow-up compared with controls (38.5%; P = .005). No major adverse events were observed in either group. CONCLUSIONS In a single-center randomized trial, a significantly larger proportion of patients with decompensated cirrhosis given a combination of G-CSF and darbopoietin alpha survived for 12 months more than patients given only placebo. The combination therapy also reduced liver severity scores and sepsis to a greater extent than placebo. Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT01384565.Copyright © 2015 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.