One Health .Matched cohort study on the efficacy of tocilizumab in patients with COVID-19

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One Health


. 2021 Jan 5;100214.
doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100214. Online ahead of print.
Matched cohort study on the efficacy of tocilizumab in patients with COVID-19


Alejandro Rodr?guez-Molinero ¹ , Carlos P?rez-L?pez ² , C?sar G?lvez-Barr?n ¹ , Antonio Mi?arro ³ , Oscar Macho ¹ , Gabriela F L?pez ¹ , Maria Teresa Robles ¹ , Maria Dolores Dapena ¹ , Sergi Mart?nez ¹ , Ezequiel Rodr?guez Gullello ¹ , Isabel Collado P?rez ¹ , COVID-19 research group of CSAPG



Affiliations

• PMID: 33426262
• PMCID: PMC7784546
• DOI: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100214

Free PMC article

Abstract

Tocilizumab has been proposed as a treatment for the new disease COVID-19, however, there is not enough scientific evidence to support this treatment. The objective of this study is to analyze whether the use of tocilizumab is associated with respiratory improvement and a shorter time to discharge in patients with COVID-19 and lung involvement. Methods: Observational study on a cohort of 418 patients, admitted to three county hospitals in Catalonia (Spain). Patients admitted consecutively were included and followed until discharge or up to 30 days of admission. A sub-cohort of patients treated with tocilizumab and a sub-cohort of control patients were identified, matched by a large number of risk factors and clinical variables. Sub-cohorts were also matched by the number of other treatments for COVID-19 that patients received. Increment in SAFI (inspired oxygen fraction / saturation) 48 h after the start of treatment, and time to discharge, were the primary outcomes. Mortality, which was a secondary outcome, was analyzed in the total cohort, by using logistic regression models, adjusted by confounders. Results: There were 96 patients treated with tocilizumab. Of them, 22 patients could be matched with an equivalent number of control patients. The increment in SAFI from baseline to 48 h of treatment, was not significantly different between groups (tocilizumab: -0.04; control: 0.09; p = 0.636). Also, no difference in time to discharge was found between the two sub-cohorts (logrank test: p = 0.472). The logistic regression models, did not show an effect of tocilizumab on mortality (OR 0.99; p = 0.990). Conclusions: We did not find a clinical benefit associated with the use tocilizumab, in terms of respiratory function at 48 h of treatment, or time to discharge.

Keywords: Cohort; Coronavirus; Efficacy; Observational study; Sars-cov-2; Tocilizumab.