ArticleInternational immunopharmacology2022
Comparing efficacy and safety of tocilizumab and methylprednisolone in the treatment of patients with severe COVID-19.
Article in International immunopharmacology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Serum C-reactive protein greater than 75 mg/dL as an early available laboratory predictor of severe COVID-19: A systematic review.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2023Pooled it
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThis study was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of methylprednisolone and tocilizumab in the treatment of patients with severe COVID-19.
methodsDuring a prospective cohort study, hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 received intravenous methylprednisolone (250-500 mg daily up to three doses), weight-based tocilizumab (maximum 800 mg, one or two doses as daily interval) or dexamethasone (8 mg daily). The primary outcome was time to onset of clinical response. Secondary outcomes were improvement rate of oxygen saturation and CRP, need for ICU admission, duration of hospitalization and 28-day mortality. During study, adverse events of the treatments were recorded.
resultsAlthough the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.090), clinical response occurred faster in the tocilizumab group than other groups (10 vs. 16 days). Clinical response was detected in 74.19%, 81.25%, and 60% of patients in the methylprednisolone, tocilizumab, and dexamethasone groups respectively (p = 0.238). Based on the Cox regression analysis and considering dexamethasone as the reference group, HR (95% CI) of clinical response was 1.08 (0.65-1.79) and 1.46 (0.89-2.39) in the methylprednisolone and tocilizumab groups respectively. Improvement rate of oxygen saturation and CRP was not significantly different between the groups (p = 0.791 and p = 0.372 respectively). Also need for ICU admission and 28-day mortality was comparable between the groups (p = 0.176 and p = 0.143 respectively). Compared with methylprednisolone, tocilizumab caused more sleep disturbances (p = 0.019). Other adverse events were comparable among patients in the groups.
conclusionWhen or where access to tocilizumab is a problem, methylprednisolone may be considered as an alternative for the treatment of patients with severe COVID-19.
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Registered trials
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