Engineered interferon alpha effectively improves clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients
immunology/immunity therapeutics
First Author: Li et al
Journal/preprint name: Research Square
Tags: therapeutics; interferons
Summary
The study by Li et al investigates the use of recombinant super compound interferon (rSIFN-co) compared to IFN-α treatment in COVID-19 patients in a single-blind, randomized trial. Specifically, the study enrolled 94 moderate-to-severe COVID-19 patients, who were also being treated with anti-viral agents. The authors found that the time to clinical improvement for the rSIFN-co group was faster (11.5 days) compared to the IFN-α group (14 days), as well as the rate of radiological improvement and negative test (for viral RNA) conversion. This study accentuates the potential for the use of rSIFN-co for the clinical management of COVID-19 patients.
Research Highlights
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Treating moderate and severe COVID-19 patients with rSIFN-co compared to IFN-α resulted in faster clinical improvement
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The rate of improvement in radiological tests was accelerated for patients on rSIFN-co treatment compared to IFN-α
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Patients treated with rSIFN-co had a negative test faster
Impact for COVID-19 research:
This research is interesting in light of a study showing that severe COVID-19 patients have low IFN-α levels (Hadjadj, Science, 2020). Together, these results highlight the dampened type I interferon response in COVID-19 patients with severe disease, and that therapeutics reversing this might benefit patients. This investigation could aid disease management, although it would be important to assess the effects of using rSIFN-co in comparison to a placebo prior to extensive administration.
Methodologies:
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Study Type: Clinical trial
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Key Techniques: SARS-CoV-2 qRT-PCR, chest CT scans
Limitations:
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It would be important to include a control group (not receiving rSIFN-co or IFN-α) before extensive administration proceeds.
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Different concentrations of rSIFN-co (12 million IU) and IFN-α (5 million IU) were used in the study, casting some doubts about the clinical superiority of rSIFN-co, since the effects could be attributed to higher dosage.