RA drug tocilizumab lowers death risk in COVID-19 patients

Delhi: Rheumatoid arthritis drug tocilizumab may lower mortality risk in COVID-19 patients on mechanical ventilation, reveal results from two new studies.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a cytokine involved in the physiological inflammatory reaction and immune response4 but it has also been recognized also as a major driver in severe diseases. Plasma IL-6 levels are elevated in ICU patients with COVID-197 and they appear to be positively correlated with mortality. The rheumatoid arthritis drug tocilizumab is known to block this inflammatory protein -- interleukin-6 (IL-6).

The first study, conducted by Emily C Somers, University of Michigan, Department of Internal Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI USA, and colleagues, is published in the journal Clinical Infectious Disease. The study found tocilizumab to be associated with 45% lower mortality despite higher superinfection occurrence.

The researchers assessed the effectiveness and safety of IL-6 blockade with tocilizumab in a single-center cohort of patients with COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation. It included 154 patients of whom 78 received tocilizumab and 76 did not and were followed up for 47 days. Somers et al found that: