Tocilizumab Versus Methylprednisolone in the Cytokine Release Syndrome of Patients With COVID-19

Covid-19 Clinical Trial

Official title:

Comparison of the Efficacy and Safety of Tocilizumab Versus Methylprednisolone in the Cytokine Release Syndrome of Patients With COVID-19. A Prospective Randomized Controlled Phase II Trial

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Terminated

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04377503
• Other study ID #: covid-19 hsd
• Status: Terminated
• Phase: Phase 2
• Start date: May 1, 2020
• Est. completion date: November 30, 2020

Study information

• Verified date: May 2020
• Source: Hospital Sao Domingos
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This study compare the efficacy and safety of tocilizumab versus methylprednisolone in the cytokine release syndrome of patients with COVID-19

Description:

In December 2019, several patients were diagnosed with pneumonia of undefined etiology in Wuhan, China. A few days later, a virus was identified as the etiologic agent. It was a new beta coronavirus that received the name of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coroinavirus (SARS-COV-2).

The disease quickly spread to the Wuhan region and in March reached northern Italy and soon across Europe. On March 14, the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 had acquired seriousness and spread to be defined as a pandemic.

Since then, COVID-19 has challenged the ability of rich countries to meet the demand for beds, especially ICU beds, and it has also challenged science in search of effective treatment, while in record time research centers begins testing with a vaccine.

Although a significant percentage of patients with COVID-19 have a benign evolution, around 20% of cases the disease acquires sufficient severity from the point of view of lung involvement to justify treatment in the ICU. In addition, around 5% of patients evolve with extremely serious forms and are associated with a lethality of up to 60%. Some of these patients demonstrated in studies alterations in cellular and humoral immunity compatible with the cytokine release syndrome, an entity that has been described complicating the use of antineoplastic drugs and viral infections.

At this moment several studies, some of them with conclusions already seek to identify effective forms of treatment. Antiviral drugs such as Lopinavir-Ritonavir, which has already been tested in a prospective randomized study and has not been shown to be effective. The antiviral rendecivir was tested in a preliminary study brought a positive expectation and the hydroxychloroquine in studies with small samples is the drug that currently meets the highest expectations. None of these drugs, however, is effective in the case of the group of patients who acquire severity as a result of what has been called a cytokine storm. In this case, expectations are turned to interleukin antagonists and corticosteroids. Among the interleukin antagonists the drug that meets the most expectations is Tocilizumab, an interleukin-6 antagonist that has proven efficacy in the cytokine release syndrome caused by antineoplastic drugs. There are currently ongoing studies analyzing the role of tocilizumab and, at the same time, and along the same line, corticosteroids are being tested. There is currently no prospective randomized study examining the role of tocilizumab. Regarding corticosteroids, the only evidence comes from a retrospective study involving 201 patients with COVID pneumonia 19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome. This study showed an association between corticosteroids and reduced risk of death (HR 0.38; p = 0.003).

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Terminated
• Enrollment: 30
• Est. completion date: November 30, 2020
• Est. primary completion date: August 31, 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

Men and non-pregnant women over 18 years old COVID diagnosis confirmed by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) Pao2 / FIO2 <200 Laboratory: high sensitivity C reactive protein> 5 mg / L; lactic dehydrogenase (LDH ) > 245 U / l; Ferritin> 300; D-dimer> 1500; Interleukin-6> 7.0 pg / ml.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Known sensitivity/Allergy to tocilizumab

• Active tuberculosis

• Pregnancy

• Individuals, in the opinion of the investigators where progression to death is imminent and inevitable in the next 24 hours

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Covid-19
• Cytokine Release Syndrome
• Syndrome

Intervention

Drug:
• Tocilizumab 180 MG/ML
Tocilizumab 8 mg/kg diluted in 100 ml of saline administered in 60 minutes. The dose will be repeated after 12 hours.
• Methylprednisolone Sodium Succinate
Patients will receive methylprednisolone at a dose of 1.5 mg / kg / day divided into 2 daily doses for 7 days. Then they will receive 1 mg / kg / day for another 7 days. Finally 0.5 mg / kg / day until 21 days of use

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Brazil	Hospital Sao Domingos	Sao Luis	MA

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Hospital Sao Domingos

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Brazil, 

References & Publications (8)

Cao B, Wang Y, Wen D, Liu W, Wang J, Fan G, Ruan L, Song B, Cai Y, Wei M, Li X, Xia J, Chen N, Xiang J, Yu T, Bai T, Xie X, Zhang L, Li C, Yuan Y, Chen H, Li H, Huang H, Tu S, Gong F, Liu Y, Wei Y, Dong C, Zhou F, Gu X, Xu J, Liu Z, Zhang Y, Li H, Shang L, Wang K, Li K, Zhou X, Dong X, Qu Z, Lu S, Hu X, Ruan S, Luo S, Wu J, Peng L, Cheng F, Pan L, Zou J, Jia C, Wang J, Liu X, Wang S, Wu X, Ge Q, He J, Zhan H, Qiu F, Guo L, Huang C, Jaki T, Hayden FG, Horby PW, Zhang D, Wang C. A Trial of Lopinavir-Ritonavir in Adults Hospitalized with Severe Covid-19. N Engl J Med. 2020 May 7;382(19):1787-1799. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001282. Epub 2020 Mar 18. — View Citation

Grasselli G, Zangrillo A, Zanella A, Antonelli M, Cabrini L, Castelli A, Cereda D, Coluccello A, Foti G, Fumagalli R, Iotti G, Latronico N, Lorini L, Merler S, Natalini G, Piatti A, Ranieri MV, Scandroglio AM, Storti E, Cecconi M, Pesenti A; COVID-19 Lombardy ICU Network. Baseline Characteristics and Outcomes of 1591 Patients Infected With SARS-CoV-2 Admitted to ICUs of the Lombardy Region, Italy. JAMA. 2020 Apr 28;323(16):1574-1581. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.5394. Erratum in: JAMA. 2021 May 25;325(20):2120. — View Citation

Grein J, Ohmagari N, Shin D, Diaz G, Asperges E, Castagna A, Feldt T, Green G, Green ML, Lescure FX, Nicastri E, Oda R, Yo K, Quiros-Roldan E, Studemeister A, Redinski J, Ahmed S, Bernett J, Chelliah D, Chen D, Chihara S, Cohen SH, Cunningham J, D'Arminio Monforte A, Ismail S, Kato H, Lapadula G, L'Her E, Maeno T, Majumder S, Massari M, Mora-Rillo M, Mutoh Y, Nguyen D, Verweij E, Zoufaly A, Osinusi AO, DeZure A, Zhao Y, Zhong L, Chokkalingam A, Elboudwarej E, Telep L, Timbs L, Henne I, Sellers S, Cao H, Tan SK, Winterbourne L, Desai P, Mera R, Gaggar A, Myers RP, Brainard DM, Childs R, Flanigan T. Compassionate Use of Remdesivir for Patients with Severe Covid-19. N Engl J Med. 2020 Jun 11;382(24):2327-2336. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2007016. Epub 2020 Apr 10. — View Citation

Guan WJ, Ni ZY, Hu Y, Liang WH, Ou CQ, He JX, Liu L, Shan H, Lei CL, Hui DSC, Du B, Li LJ, Zeng G, Yuen KY, Chen RC, Tang CL, Wang T, Chen PY, Xiang J, Li SY, Wang JL, Liang ZJ, Peng YX, Wei L, Liu Y, Hu YH, Peng P, Wang JM, Liu JY, Chen Z, Li G, Zheng ZJ, Qiu SQ, Luo J, Ye CJ, Zhu SY, Zhong NS; China Medical Treatment Expert Group for Covid-19. Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China. N Engl J Med. 2020 Apr 30;382(18):1708-1720. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2002032. Epub 2020 Feb 28. — View Citation

Mehta P, McAuley DF, Brown M, Sanchez E, Tattersall RS, Manson JJ; HLH Across Speciality Collaboration, UK. COVID-19: consider cytokine storm syndromes and immunosuppression. Lancet. 2020 Mar 28;395(10229):1033-1034. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30628-0. Epub 2020 Mar 16. — View Citation

Wu C, Chen X, Cai Y, Xia J, Zhou X, Xu S, Huang H, Zhang L, Zhou X, Du C, Zhang Y, Song J, Wang S, Chao Y, Yang Z, Xu J, Zhou X, Chen D, Xiong W, Xu L, Zhou F, Jiang J, Bai C, Zheng J, Song Y. Risk Factors Associated With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Death in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pneumonia in Wuhan, China. JAMA Intern Med. 2020 Jul 1;180(7):934-943. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.0994. Erratum in: JAMA Intern Med. 2020 Jul 1;180(7):1031. — View Citation

Ye Q, Wang B, Mao J. The pathogenesis and treatment of the 'Cytokine Storm' in COVID-19. J Infect. 2020 Jun;80(6):607-613. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2020.03.037. Epub 2020 Apr 10. Review. — View Citation

Zhang C, Wu Z, Li JW, Zhao H, Wang GQ. Cytokine release syndrome in severe COVID-19: interleukin-6 receptor antagonist tocilizumab may be the key to reduce mortality. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2020 May;55(5):105954. doi: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105954. Epub 2020 Mar 29. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Patient clinical status 15 days after randomization	A seven-category ordinal scale consisting of: 1) Death; 2) Hospitalized, on invasive mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO); 3) Hospitalized, on non-invasive ventilation or high flow oxygen devices; 4) Hospitalized, requiring supplemental oxygen; 5) Hospitalized, not requiring supplemental oxygen - requiring ongoing medical care (COVID-19 related or otherwise); 6) Hospitalized, not requiring supplemental oxygen - no longer requires ongoing medical care; 7) Not hospitalized, limitation on activities and/or requiring home oxygen; 8) Not hospitalized, no limitations on activities.	15 days after randomization
Secondary	Improving oxygenation	Improvement in PaO2/FIO2	15 days
Secondary	Thorax CT improvement	Improvement in the computed tomography between D0 and D10 after randomization	10 days
Secondary	ICU length of stay	Duration o ICU stay in days	28 days
Secondary	Duration of mechanical ventilation	Days of mechanical ventilation	28 days
Secondary	Incidence of acute kidney (AKI) with necessity of renal replacement therapy	AKI according to Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO)	15 days