A cheap drug commonly used to treat gout has been shown to have the potential to significantly reduce hospital stays among patients with Covid-19 and the need for additional oxygen.
The results of new research on colchicine in Brazil come after an international trial published on Wednesday found that it reduced hospitalizations and deaths in patients with Covid-19 by more than 20%.
The researchers hailed that colchicine, which is used to treat rheumatic diseases, has the potential to be the first oral drug to treat Covid-19 in outpatient settings 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 cells lining the walls of blood vessels.
“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 that appeared in the online journal RMD Open, published by British Medical Journal.
The researchers added that it was not associated with serious side effects, such as heart or liver damage or suppression of the immune system, factors that have sometimes been linked to some other drugs used to treat Covid.
Reductions in the need for oxygen therapy and length of hospital stay were not only good for patients, but also reduced health care 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 trial and were unable to determine whether colchicine could avoid the need for intensive care or decrease the risk of death.
Brazil has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, while health workers in the country’s largest state are calling for help and oxygen supply after a sharp rise in covid infections.
Although colchicine has been used to treat and prevent inflammatory conditions, a feature of some covid infections, the researchers wanted to find out if using it could reduce the need for additional oxygen or long hospital stays.
The research was conducted 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. The mean duration of patients in need of oxygen therapy was found to be four days for those treated with additional colchicine, compared with 6.5 days for those who received a standard type of treatment.
The mean length of hospital stay was seven days for the colchicine group compared with nine from the other group.