Two anti-inflammatory compounds have shown the ability to accelerate recovery from severe cases of “Covid-19”

Two separate studies found that monoclonal antibodies promote rapid improvement in respiratory function in severely ill patients.

The first study was conducted by researchers from the Cell Therapy Center (CTC) in Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo (Brazil), on the monoclonal antibody eculizumab, and the second study was conducted by scientists from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (USA) on an experimental drug It is called AMY-101 and it has been observed that it has an important anti-inflammatory effect that has contributed to the rapid recovery of patients with severe “Covid-19”.

The results of the two studies, which aim to compare the therapeutic potential of the compounds, are reported in an article published in Clinical Immunology.

The two drugs were administered separately to the patients. The monoclonal antibody test, which is routinely used to treat blood diseases, was performed on patients at the “Hospital Das Clinicas” university hospital, run by the Ribeirao Preto College of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (FMRP-USP ).

AMY-101, a drug candidate developed by the US pharmaceutical company Amynda, was administered to patients in a hospital in Milan, Italy. Both have promising results, but because AMY-101 is cheaper and works better in a clinical trial, the two research groups propose to test it on more patients in Brazil.

“Both compounds caused a strong anti-inflammatory response that culminated in a fairly rapid recovery of the patients’ respiratory function,” Rodrigo Calado, who led the study at the University of San Francisco’s Ribeirao Preto College of Medicine, told Agência FAPESP. Paul.

The researchers concluded that the therapeutic benefits of ecolizumab and AMY-101 are due to the inhibition of the blood flow chain of proteins involved in the immune response known as the complement system.

Continuous, unregulated activation of supplements triggers an exacerbating inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2 infection characterized by a systematic increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines, often referred to as a “cytokine storm”.

When unable to prevent cellular infection with the virus, the supplementary system enters a continuous and unrestrained activation cycle that leads to massive infiltration of monocytes and neutrophils into the affected tissue.

This process can lead to inflammatory damage to the blood vessel walls surrounding vital organs, as well as to diffuse microvascular injury and clotting, which can lead to the failure of many organs.

“Previous studies have shown that the use of supplement inhibitors is a promising treatment strategy for reducing thrombophilia in patients with Covid-19, and there have been case reports with positive results,” Calado said. “However, no one has yet clarified the procedure or evaluated the efficacy of drugs already used to treat diseases caused by complementary modifications, such as eculizumab, or candidate drugs with this function such as AMY-101,” he added.

The researchers conducted two clinical studies in which they compared the biological efficacy of eculizumab with that of the synthetic peptide AMY-101 in small independent groups of dangerous “Covid-19” patients.

The patients’ clinical responses showed that iculizumab and AMY-101 induced a potent anti-inflammatory process, a sharp decrease in C-reactive protein or CRP, interleukin-6 or IL-6 levels, and a significant improvement in lung function.

Inhibition of C3 by AMY-101 allowed for wider therapeutic control, stronger lymphocyte recovery, marked reduction in neutrophil count, and greater relief from phlebitis caused by an exacerbated response to viral infection.

“Results from clinical trials have shown that inhibition of supplemental system components significantly reduces inflammation,” Calado said.

In light of the promising results of the two clinical trials, the researchers are now planning to conduct a phase III study with more than 100 patients with severe cases of “Covid-19”, who will be given AMY-101 only in an attempt to evaluate the efficacy of the drug on a larger scale.

The study will be conducted at the Hospital Das Clinics of the University of São Paulo’s Ribeirao Preto College of Medicine program and will likely include other research institutes in Brazil. “One of the advantages of AMY-101 is its low cost. It is much less expensive than iculizumab,” Calado said.

Source: medicalxpress