ABSTRACT
Background: Several pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines involved in COVID-19 and it is reasonable to speculate that their removal from blood might limit organ damage. Hemoperfusion with CytoSorb is a technique developed to adsorb molecules in the middle molecular weight range (up to 55 kDa). Studies in vitro and in vivo have shown that HP is highly effective in clearing blood from a number of cytokines. Method(s): We report a case series of 9 consecutive COVID-patients admitted to our COVID Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Five of them were treated with HP using CytoSorb (T), due to the heavy emergency overload it was impossible to deliver blood purification in the other 4 patients (C), who were also considered as potential candidates by the attending medical team. All patients had pneumonia and respiratory failure requiring continuous positive airway pressure. Different antibacterial prophylaxes, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory therapies including steroids were delivered. Result(s): Our results show a better clinical course of T compared to control patients (C), in fact all T except 1 survived, and only 2 of them were intubated, while all C required intubation and died. CRP decreased in both groups, but to a greater extent after HP. Lymphocytopenia worsened in control patient but not in treated patient after HP. Procalcitonin increased in 2 of the not treated patients. In all survived patients (n = 4) HP reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines, as IL-6, TNF-alpha, and IL-8. Notably, a striking effect was observed on IL-6 levels that at the end of the second session were decreased by a 40% than before the first treatment. Serum levels of IL-8 and TNF-alpha were lowered within normal range. In all patients the treatment was safe and there were no complications. Conclusion(s): Our study suggests a potential efficacy of HP in an early phase of viral infection not only for improving survival in the treated patients but also by the remodeling treatment-associated cytokine levels.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Uncontrolled inflammation plays a relevant role in the pathogenesis of Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) and has been related to disease severity and unfavorable outcomes. Here, we studied the time trend of pro-and antiinflammatory markers in a population of patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) affected by COVID-19, evaluating the potential modulating effects of two different dialysis approaches. METHOD: For this prospective randomized study, we recruited maintenance hemodialysis patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection. After diagnosis, the patients were randomized to two different dialysis modalities, expanded HD (HDx), performed by use of a medium cut-off membrane, and standard treatment based on the use of a protein-leaking dialyzer (PLD). Clinical and laboratory data were collected, including circulating pre and post-dialysis levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-10 (IL-10), soluble TLR4 (sTLR4), and interferon-gamma (IFN-g). Samples were collected at diagnosis (T0), one and two weeks after the diagnosis (T7 and T14, respectively). RESULTS: Twenty-seven HD patients with COVID-19 (69.7 616.6 years, 14 males) were compared with 14 non-infected HD patients, as the control group. COVID-19 patients presented a significantly reduced number of lymphocytes, including CD4 andCD8 subpopulations, and higher levels of ferritin and lactate dehydrogenase. Moreover, COVID-19 patients had higher levels of IL-6 [35.5 (59.4) vs 12 (43) pg/ml, p=0.048] and IL-10 [9.3 (20.8) vs 1.2 (1.4) pg/ml, p=0.02], while the levels of IL-8 and sTLR4 were comparable. Then, twenty-five patients were randomized to undergo HDx (n.15) or PLD (n.10). Basal characteristics and cytokine levels were not significantly different between the two groups. All over the study, no significant modifications of circulating cytokine levels were observed. Similarly, no significant differences were found between patients on HDx or PLD evaluated at different time points. After a single HD treatment, IL-8 showed a significant reduction compared to pre-dialysis levels in both groups. IL-8 reduction rate resulted significantly correlated with IL-8 pre-dialysis levels. Finally, there were no correlations between cytokine levels and clinical characteristics and outcomes. CONCLUSION: In maintenance HD patients, COVID-19 is not related to a sustained inflammatory response. Modulation of the inflammation is not a suitable therapeutic target in this specific population. Other mechanisms could be involved in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 in HD patients. MO905 Figure 1: Time trends of pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines in HD patients with COVID-19. A) IL-6 showed a trend to decrease in the first week after the diagnosis of COVID-19, reaching statistical significance in PLD group. B) IL-10 presented a significant increase in the first week after the diagnosis of COVID-19 in HDx group. C) IL-8 circulating levels, as well as D) sTLR4 levels, did not present significant modifications during the study. Expanded hemodialysis (HDx): black lines;Protein-leaking dialysis (PLD): red lines.