Study to Investigate the Treatment Effect of Colchicine in Patients With COVID-19
- Registration Number
- NCT04667780
- Lead Sponsor
- Ayub Teaching Hospital
- Brief Summary
COVID-19 is associated with a cytokine storm that leads to respiratory distress, multiorgan failure and elevated mortality. Oral Colchicine exhibits high anti-inflammatory capacity attributed to the inhibition of microtubules polymerization, inflammasome and production of IL-1β and IL-6, which could prevent the inflammatory storm in COVID-19 patients at risk. The investigators present a randomized, controlled, open-labeled, and pragmatic clinical trial to study the treatment effect of Colchicine in COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization, but no intensive care yet. Colchicine will be started within the first 48 hours and continue for 14 days using a descending dose. The benefits will be studied in terms of clinical evolution (WHO 7-point scale) and IL-6 levels, as well as other clinical and biochemical secondary end-points. In the case of positive results, the clinical impact would be relevant given that this oral medication is affordable and widely accessible which would help to prevent the inflammatory complications associated with COVID-19.
- Detailed Description
This is a Phase III, prospective, pragmatic, randomized, controlled and open-label trial, comparing standard of care vs. standard of care plus COLCHICINE for 14 days, in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 and confirmed infection by SARS-CoV-2, within the first 48 hours after the hospital admission. Patients meeting severity criteria will be excluded, defined as established limitation of therapeutic effort or need for invasive mechanical ventilation at the time of inclusion. The Colchicine treatment includes an initial dose of 1.5 mg (1 mg and 0.5 mg two hours after), followed by 0.5 mg every 12 hours during the next 7 days and 0.5 mg every 24 hours until the completion of 14 days of total treatment. In patients receiving ritonavir or lopinavir or with reduced renal clearance (\<50 ml/min/1.37m2), weight \<70 kg or age \>75 years old, the dose will be adjusted to the half.
Patients meeting all the inclusion criteria and none of the exclusion ones (see below), after signing the informed consent, will be centrally randomized to "Colchicine" or "Control" group. Patients in both groups will receive the standard therapy for COVID-19 as per the hospital protocols. Randomization will be controlled by: age, sex, time from initiation of symptoms, cardiovascular disease, the 7 point WHO and levels of C-reactive protein, ferritin, D-dimer, IL-6 and lymphocyte levels.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 102
- SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by PCR.
- Admitted in the hospital in the previous 48 hours, with clinical status 3, 4 or 5 of WHO classification.
- Age above 18 years old.
- Informed written consent.
- Invasive mechanical ventilation needed.
- Established limitation of the therapeutic effort
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD: Chron Syndrome or Ulcerative colitis), chronic diarrhea or malabsorption.
- Previous neuromuscular disease.
- Other disease with an estimated vital prognosis under 1 year.
- Severe renal insufficiency (glomerular filtration rate <30 mL/min/1.73m2)
- Medical records of cirrhosis, active chronic hepatitis or severe hepatic disease defined by GOT or GPT levels three times above the normal upper limit.
- Patients with previous colchicine treatment for other diseases (mainly chronic prescriptions for familial Mediterranean fever or gout). Clearance period will not be required for patients treated with colchicine who stopped the treatment before the randomization.
- Patients with history of allergic reaction or significant sensitivity to colchicine.
- Treatment with immunosuppressive agents, corticoids or interleukine-1 antagonists for 6 months before inclusion.
- Pregnant or breastfeeding female, confirmed by a positive result in the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) test.
- Fertile woman, or post-menopausal during less than one year and non-surgically sterilized. Women of fertile age may be included if using at least one contraceptive method and preferably two complementary contraceptive methods.
- Use of other investigational drugs in the moment of inclusion, or during 30 days previous to inclusion.
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Colchicine Colchicine This arm will receive Standard COVID-19 care + Colchicine The Colchicine treatment includes an initial dose of 1.5 mg (1 mg and 0.5 mg two hours after), followed by 0.5 mg every 12 hours during the next 7 days and 0.5 mg every 24 hours until the completion of 14 days of total treatment. In patients receiving ritonavir or lopinavir or with reduced renal clearance (\<50 ml/min/1.37m2), weight \<70 kg or age \>75 years old, the dose will be adjusted to the half. Colchicine Standard COVID-19 care This arm will receive Standard COVID-19 care + Colchicine The Colchicine treatment includes an initial dose of 1.5 mg (1 mg and 0.5 mg two hours after), followed by 0.5 mg every 12 hours during the next 7 days and 0.5 mg every 24 hours until the completion of 14 days of total treatment. In patients receiving ritonavir or lopinavir or with reduced renal clearance (\<50 ml/min/1.37m2), weight \<70 kg or age \>75 years old, the dose will be adjusted to the half. Control - Standard COVID-19 care Standard COVID-19 care This arm will receive standard COVID-19 care as per the hospital guidelines.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Changes in the patients' clinical status through the 7 points ordinal scale WHO R&D Blueprint expert group up to 14 days Improvement in the clinical evolution of patients
Changes in IL-6 concentrations up to 14 days Improvement in cytokine level
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Changes in the punctuation in the National Early Warning Score up to 14 days National Early Warning Score (NEWS scale)
Number of days with invasive mechanical ventilation up to 14 days Number of days with high flow oxygen therapy up to 14 days Changes in other inflammatory markers up to 14 days C-reactive protein
Changes in severity markers up to 14 days Ferritin
Changes in myocardial damage up to 14 days myocardial stress markers NT-proBNP
Number of days in the intensive care unit. up to 14 days Number of days in the intensive care unit.
Mortality up to 14 days Mortality
Improvement in the clinical status up to 14 days time needed to reduce at least 2 points in the 7-point Ordinal Scale for Clinical Improvement by WHO R\&D Blueprint expert group (0-7)
Changes in the score for the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA score) up to 14 days Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA score) (0-14)
Time until reaching a virus negative status up to 14 days RT-PCR assay
Length of hospital stay up to 14 days Length of hospital stay
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
Ayub Teaching Hospital
🇵🇰Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan