Coronavirus patients treated with an experimental hepatitis drug were FOUR times more likely to have cleared the infection in seven days, the study concluded.
- Peginterferon-lambda is an artificial form of a natural protein that requires immune cells to attack a virus and is used primarily to treat hepatitis
- Receptors for the drug are found in the lining of the lungs and intestines – the main areas where COVID-19 attacks – and in the liver
- The researchers gave half of a group of 60 coronavirus patients an injection of the drug and the other half a placebo
- Patients who received the drug were four times more likely to have undetectable charges on day seven than the placebo group
- Among the 60 patients, five went to the emergency room, four of whom were in the placebo group and one in the treatment group.
COVID-19 patients treated with an experimental hepatitis drug were able to eliminate the virus more quickly, suggests a new study.
Those with mild symptoms received peginterferon-lambda, an artificial form of a natural protein that helps control respiratory disease by calling immune cells to the site of infection.
The researchers found that patients who received an injection of the drug were four times more likely to have undetectable viral loads in seven days, compared to a group treated with a placebo.
The team, from the Toronto Center for Liver Disease, University Health Network, says the findings provide evidence that the drug can help stem the spread of the virus in the community while the vaccine is launched.
The researchers gave half of a group of 60 coronavirus patients an injection of an experimental hepatitis drug and the other half a placebo. Patients who received the drug were four times more likely to have undetectable charges on day seven than the placebo group (above)
Peginterferon-lambda is an artificial form of a naturally occurring protein that requires immune cells to attack a virus and is used primarily to treat hepatitis (above)
“This treatment has great therapeutic potential, especially at this time, as we see aggressive variants of the virus spreading around the world that are less sensitive to vaccines and antibody treatment,” said Dr. Jordan Feld, a liver specialist at the Toronto Center for Disease hepatic.
Peginterferon-lambda has been described in the past as issuing a ‘troop call’ command so that immune cells can fight disease.
Receptors for the drug are found in the lining of the lungs and intestines – the main areas where COVID-19 attacks – and in the liver.
Most experimental treatments are being studied in hospitalized patients, but researchers want to see if peginterferon-lambda can help prevent the need for hospitalization.
For the study, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, the team looked at 60 outpatients COVID-19, those who do not need hospitalization between May 2020 and November 2020 at six centers.
Half of the patients were randomly assigned to receive an injection of peginterferon-lambda or a placebo within seven days of symptom onset or within seven days of the first positive smear if asymptomatic.
One week after the injection, 80 percent of the participants in the peginterferon-lambda group had undetectable viral loads, compared with 63 percent in the placebo group.
After controlling for baseline viral load, patients who received the drug were four times more likely to have undetectable loads on the seventh day than the control group.
The treatment was even more apparent in participants with higher viral levels, above one million copies per milliliter.
Fifteen of the 19 patients in the peginterferon-lambda group with these elevated levels had undetectable charges on day seven, compared with six out of 16 in the placebo group.
“The people who were treated cleared the virus quickly, and the effect was more pronounced in those with the highest viral levels,” Dr. Feld.
“We also saw a trend towards faster improvement of respiratory symptoms in the treatment group.
Among the 60 patients, five went to the emergency room, four of whom were in the placebo group and one in the treatment group.
Feld said the drug helps to reduce levels of the virus quickly, which prevents people from getting worse or spreading the disease to others.
“If we can decrease the level of the virus quickly, people are less likely to spread the infection to others and we may even be able to shorten the time needed for self-isolation,” he said.