An inexpensive drug commonly used to treat gout has been found to have the potential to significantly reduce hospitalizations among Covid-19 patients and the need for extra oxygen.
The results of a new research on colchicine conducted in Brazil came after an international trial published on Wednesday found that it reduced hospitalizations and deaths among Covid-19 patients by more than 20%.
Colchicine, which is used to treat rheumatic diseases, was hailed by researchers as having the potential to be the first oral drug to treat Covid-19 on an outpatient basis in a trial funded by the Quebec government and philanthropists.
The latest trial, funded by Brazilian foundations and authorities, suggested that the drug could decrease the body’s inflammatory response and help prevent damage to the cells lining the blood vessel walls.
“Whatever the mechanism of action … colchicine appears to be beneficial for the treatment of hospitalized patients with Covid-19,” according to a report on the small clinical trial published in the online journal RMD Open, published by the British Medical Journal .
The researchers added that it was not associated with serious side effects, such as damage to the heart or liver or suppression of the immune system, factors that have sometimes been associated with some other drugs used to treat Covid.
The reductions in the need for oxygen therapy and the length of hospital stay were not only good for patients, but also reduced health costs and the need for hospital beds, they added.
However, they also expressed caution that only a small number of patients were included in the study, and they were unable to determine whether colchicine could avoid the need for intensive care or decrease the risk of death.
Brazil has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, while health professionals in the country’s largest state are begging for help and oxygen supplies after a sharp increase in Covid infections.
Although colchicine was used to treat and prevent inflammatory diseases, a feature of some Covid infections, the researchers wanted to find out whether the use could reduce the need for extra oxygen or prolonged hospital stays.
The research was carried out between April and August last year, when 75 patients admitted to the hospital with moderate to severe Covid-19 were randomly assigned to receive different levels of colchicine.
The results were based on 72 patients. It was found that the average time that patients needed oxygen therapy was four days for those treated with additional colchicine, compared with 6.5 days for those who received a standard type of treatment.
The average length of hospital stay was seven days for the colchicine group compared to nine days for the other group.