Efficacy Evaluation of Thymosin Alpha 1 in Non-severe Patients With COVID-19: A Retrospective Cohort Study Based on Propensity Score Matching.
Huang. ChenLu C; Fei. Ling L; Xu. Wei W; Li. WeiXia W; Xie. XuDong X; Li. Qiang Q; Chen. Liang L
Key Findings
- Thymosin‑alpha‑1 reduced SARS‑CoV‑2 RNA shedding time from 16 to 13 days (p = 0.025).
- Hospital stay was shortened from 18 to 14 days with thymosin‑alpha‑1 (p < 0.001).
- No significant difference in progression to severe disease (2.17% vs 2.71%) or COVID‑19‑related mortality (0.54% vs 0%).
Practical Outcomes
- For biohackers looking to speed recovery, thymosin‑alpha‑1 may be worth trying in mild COVID‑19 cases to potentially shave a few days off viral shedding and hospitalization. However, the evidence is from a retrospective study, so benefits are modest and it does not appear to prevent worsening illness or death.
Summary
In a study of people with mild COVID-19, adding thymosin‑alpha‑1 to standard care helped them clear the virus a few days faster and left the hospital sooner, but it didn’t stop the disease from getting worse or lower death rates.
Abstract
<b>Objective:</b> Thymosin alpha 1 (Thymosin-α1) is a potential treatment for patients with COVID-19. We aimed to determine the effect of Thymosin-α1 in non-severe patients with COVID-19. <b>Methods:</b> We retrospectively enrolled 1,388 non-severe patients with COVID-19. The primary and secondary clinical outcomes were evaluated with comparisons between patients treated with or without Thymosin-α1 therapy. <b>Results:</b> Among 1,388 enrolled patients, 232 patients (16.7%) received both Thymosin-α1 therapy and standard therapy (Thymosin-α1 group), and 1,156 patients (83.3%) received standard therapy (control group). After propensity score matching (1:1 ratio), baseline characteristics were well-balanced between the Thymosin-α1 group and control group. The proportion of patients that progressed to severe COVID-19 is 2.17% for the Thymosin-α1 group and 2.71% for the control group (<i>p</i> = 0.736). The COVID-19-related mortality is 0.54% for the Thymosin-α1 group and 0 for the control group (<i>p</i> = 0.317). Compared with the control group, the Thymosin-α1 group had significantly shorter SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding duration (13 vs. 16 days, <i>p</i> = 0.025) and hospital stay (14 vs. 18 days, <i>p</i> < 0.001). No statistically significant difference was found between the Thymosin-α1 group and control group in duration of symptoms (median, 4 vs. 3 days, <i>p</i> = 0.843) and antibiotic utilization rate (14.1% vs. 15.2%, <i>p</i> = 0.768). <b>Conclusion:</b> For non-severe patients with COVID-19, Thymosin-α1 can shorten viral RNA shedding duration and hospital stay but did not prevent COVID-19 progression and reduce COVID-19-related mortality rate.
Study Information
pubmed
2021
2021-04-23T00:00:00.000Z
10.3389/fmed.2021.664776
13
23