Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33051695›Full record

SynthesisEuropean journal of clinical pharmacology2021

Tocilizumab for treating COVID-19: a systemic review and meta-analysis of retrospective studies.

Meng Zhao, Jieyu Lu, Yihu Tang, Yawei Dai, Jingxin Zhou, Yanhu Wu

Open access · bronzeAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in European journal of clinical pharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.

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  11. Investigating the Short-Term Changes of the Electrocardiogram Indicators During Hospitalization in Patients With COVID-19 Following the Use of Tocilizumab.Annals of noninvasive electrocardiology : the official journal of the International Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology, Inc · 2026
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  14. Impact of Liver Functions by Repurposed Drugs for COVID-19 Treatment.Journal of clinical and translational hepatology · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Meng ZhaoDepartment of Cardiovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu Province, China.
Jieyu LuDepartment of Cardiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Yihu TangDepartment of Cardiovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu Province, China.
Yawei DaiDepartment of Cardiovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu Province, China.
Jingxin ZhouDepartment of Cardiovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu Province, China. jingxin110@sina.com.
Yanhu WuDepartment of Cardiovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu Province, China. wuyanhu@njmu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7941-8623
Jiangsu Province Hospital · CN

Funding

National Youth Foundation of China 81700340
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesCOVID-19 has become a global epidemic, and effective therapies have not been discovered up to now. We conducted this study to explore the effectiveness and safety of tocilizumab recently used for treating COVID-19.

methodA comprehensive search was conducted (up to September 27, 2020), and 19 eligible records were identified according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data of the studies were extracted by 2 independent reviewers and were analyzed to evaluate the safety and availability of tocilizumab for treating COVID-19.

resultsThirteen retrospective case-control studies (n = 2285 patients) and 6 retrospective single-armed studies (n = 208) were retrieved in this study. In the comparison of tocilizumab treatment group (TCZ) and standard treatment group (ST), significant associations with a lower risk of admission to ICU, use of ventilation, and mortality (OR, 95% CI: 0.53, 0.26~1.09; 0.66, 0.46~0.94; 0.44, 0.36~0.55) were found in the tocilizumab treatment group. What is more, patients treated with tocilizumab had better clinical improvement compared with the patients treated with ST (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 0.96~1.62). After taking tocilizumab, the patients had lower C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell count (WBC), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (WMD, 95% CI: - 99.66, - 156.24~- 43.09; - 0.95, - 1.8~- 0.11; - 12.58, - 18.88~-6.29) but higher troponin (WMD, 7.61; 95% CI, 3.06~12.15) than before. In addition, tocilizumab did not have significant influence on patients' neutrophil count (Neut), lymphocyte count (Lymp), platelet count (Plt), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and creatine (WMD, 95% CI: - 0.29, - 2.91~2.33; 0.42, - 0.23~1.07; 5.2, - 2.85~13.25; 22.49, - 2.73~47.7; - 44.78, - 93.37~3.81).

conclusionTocilizumab may have potential effectiveness to treat COVID-19 according to the results of this study. However, more large-scale studies are needed for more accurate conclusions.

Indexed as

COVID-19 Drug TreatmentInterleukin-6 InhibitorsAntibodies, Monoclonal, HumanizedCOVID-19HumansInterleukin-6Antibodies, Monoclonal, HumanizedIL6 protein, humanInterleukin-6Interleukin-6 InhibitorstocilizumabCOVID-19IL-6 blockadeMeta-analysisTocilizumab

Identifiers

PMID33051695
PMCPMC7553373
OpenAlexW3092623037

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.