Epidemiology and Clinical Management of Rheumatic Autoimmune Diseases in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been in pandemic for more than 1 year, with serious negative effects produced worldwide. During this period, there have been a lot of studies on rheumatic autoimmune diseases (RADs) combined with COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to review and summarize these experiences. Pubmed, Web of science, Embase and the Cochrane library were searched from January 15, 2020 to July 15, 2021 using RADs and COVID-19 related keywords. Based on a comprehensive review of studies covering 16 countries, the prevalence of COVID-19 does not necessarily increase in RADs patients compared to the general population. In RADs population infected with COVID-19, a high proportion of female patients (54.44~95.2%), elderly patients (≥50y, 48~75.88%), and patients with pre-existing comorbidities (respiratory, 4.8~60.4%; endocrine, 8.52~44.72%; cardiovascular, 15.7~64.73%) were observed, although, this does not appear to have a decisive effect on disease severity. Many anti-rheumatic treatments have been extensively evaluated for their efficacy of treating COVID-19 in RADs patients, with TNF-α inhibitors and IL-6 receptor antagonist receiving more positive reviews. However, there is no conclusive information for most of the therapeutic regimens due to the lack of high-level evidence. Inflammatory markers or neutrophil-lymphocyte-ratio may be applied as indicators for clinical prognosis or therapeutic regimens adjustment. Thus, more research is still needed to address the prevalence, treatment, and clinical monitoring of RADs patients in COVID-19 pandemic.

Laboratory Predictors of COVID-19 Mortality: A Retrospective Analysis from Tongji Hospital in Wuhan.

BACKGROUND: Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an acute respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), rapidly progressed to a global pandemic. Currently, there are limited effective medications approved for this deadly disease. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential predictors of COVID-19 mortality and risk factors for hyperinflammation in COVID-19. METHODS: Retrospective analysis was carried out in 1,149 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Tongji Hospital, Wuhan, China, from 1/13/2020 to 3/15/2020. RESULTS: We found significant differences in the rates of hyperuricemia (OR: 3.17, 95% CI: 2.13-4.70; p < 0.001) and hypoalbuminemia (OR: 5.68, 95% CI: 3.97-8.32; p < 0.001) between deceased and recovered patients. The percentages of hyperuricemia in deceased patients and recovered patients were 23.6% and 8.9%, respectively, which were higher than the reported age-standardized prevalence of 6.2% in Chinese population. Of note, the percentages of both IL-6 and uric acid levels in survived COVID-19 patients were above 90%, suggesting that they might be good specificity for indicators of mortality in COVID-19 patients. The serum level of uric acid (UA) was positively associated with ferritin, TNF-α, and IL-6 but not with anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. In addition, the levels of these proinflammatory cytokines in COVID-19 patients showed a trend of reduction after uric acid lowering therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that uric acid, the end product of purine metabolism, was increased in deceased patients with COVID-19. In addition, the serum level of uric acid was positively associated with inflammatory markers. Uric acid lowering therapy in COVID-19 patients with hyperuricemia may be beneficial.

COVID-19 infection in patients with connective tissue disease: A multicity study in Hubei province, China.

Novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly around the world. Individuals with immune dysregulation and/or on immunosuppressive therapy, such as rheumatic patients, are considered at greater risk for infections. However, the risks of patients with each subcategory of rheumatic diseases have not been reported. Here, we identified 100 rheumatic patients from 18,786 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in 23 centers affiliated to Hubei COVID-19 Rheumatology Alliance between January 1 and April 1, 2020. Demographic information, medical history, length of hospital stay, classification of disease severity, symptoms and signs, laboratory tests, disease outcome, computed tomography, and treatments information were collected. Compared to gout and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients, patients with connective tissue disease (CTD) tend to be more severe after COVID-19 infection (p = 0.081). CTD patients also had lower lymphocyte counts, hemoglobin, and platelet counts (p values were 0.033, < 0.001, and 0.071, respectively). Hydroxychloroquine therapy and low- to medium-dose glucocorticoids before COVID-19 diagnosis reduced the progression of COVID-19 to severe/critical conditions (p = 0.001 for hydroxychloroquine; p = 0.006 for glucocorticoids). Our data suggests that COVID-19 in CTD patients may be more severe compared to patients with AS or gout.

COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic disease in Hubei province, China: a multicentre retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the susceptibility of patients with rheumatic diseases to COVID-19 remains unclear. We aimed to investigate susceptibility to COVID-19 in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We did a multicentre retrospective study of patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases in Hubei province, the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Patients with rheumatic diseases were contacted through an automated telephone-based survey to investigate their susceptibility to COVID-19. Data about COVID-19 exposure or diagnosis were collected. Families with a documented history of COVID-19 exposure, as defined by having at least one family member diagnosed with COVID-19, were followed up by medical professionals to obtain detailed information, including sex, age, smoking history, past medical history, use of medications, and information related to COVID-19. FINDINGS: Between March 20 and March 30, 2020, 6228 patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases were included in the study. The overall rate of COVID-19 in patients with an autoimmune rheumatic disease in our study population was 0·43% (27 of 6228 patients). We identified 42 families in which COVID-19 was diagnosed between Dec 20, 2019, and March 20, 2020, in either patients with a rheumatic disease or in a family member residing at the same physical address during the outbreak. Within these 42 families, COVID-19 was diagnosed in 27 (63%) of 43 patients with a rheumatic disease and in 28 (34%) of 83 of their family members with no rheumatic disease (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2·68 [95% CI 1·14-6·27]; p=0·023). Patients with rheumatic disease who were taking hydroxychloroquine had a lower risk of COVID-19 infection than patients taking other disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (OR 0·09 [95% CI 0·01-0·94]; p=0·044). Additionally, the risk of COVID-19 was increased with age (adjusted OR 1·04 [95%CI 1·01-1·06]; p=0·0081). INTERPRETATION: Patients with autoimmune rheumatic disease might be more susceptible to COVID-19 infection than the general population. FUNDING: National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Tongji Hospital Clinical Research Flagship Program.

Clinical features of rheumatic patients infected with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China.

OBJECTIVE: The clinical features of rheumatic patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have not been reported. This study aimed to describe the clinical features of COVID-19 in rheumatic patients and provide information for handling this situation in clinical practice. METHODS: This is a retrospective case series study. Deidentified data, including gender, age, laboratory and radiological results, symptoms, signs, and medication history, were collected from 2326 patients diagnosed with COVID-19, including 21 cases in combination with rheumatic disease, in Tongji Hospital between 13 January and 15 March 2020. RESULTS: Length of hospital stay and mortality rate were similar between rheumatic and non-rheumatic groups, while the presence of respiratory failure was more common in rheumatic cases (38% vs 10%, p<0.001). Symptoms of fever, fatigue and diarrhoea were seen in 76%, 43% and 23% of patients, respectively. There were four rheumatic patients who experienced a flare of rheumatic disease during hospital stay, with symptoms of muscle aches, back pain, joint pain or rash. While lymphocytopaenia was seen in 57% of rheumatic patients, only one patient (5%) presented with leucopenia in rheumatic cases. Rheumatic patients presented with similar radiological features of ground-glass opacity and consolidation. Patients with pre-existing interstitial lung disease showed massive fibrous stripes and crazy-paving signs at an early stage. Five rheumatic cases used hydroxychloroquine before the diagnosis of COVID-19 and none progressed to critically ill stage. CONCLUSIONS: Respiratory failure was more common in rheumatic patients infected with COVID-19. Differential diagnosis between COVID-19 and a flare of rheumatic disease should be considered. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR2000030795.

The immunology of COVID-19: is immune modulation an option for treatment?

In December, 2019, an outbreak of COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China and quickly spread globally. As of May 7, 2020, there were 3 672 238 confirmed infections and 254 045 deaths attributed to COVID-19. Evidence has shown that there are asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 who can transmit the disease to others. The virus incubation time shows a wide range (0-24 days) and the virus displays a high infectivity. It is therefore urgent to develop an effective therapy to treat patients with COVID-19 and to control the spread of the causative agent, severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Repurposing of approved drugs is widely adopted to fight newly emerged diseases such as COVID-19, as these drugs have known pharmacokinetic and safety profiles. As pathological examination has confirmed the involvement of immune hyperactivation and acute respiratory distress syndrome in fatal cases of COVID-19, several disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDS), such as hydroxychloroquine and tocilizumab, have been proposed as potential therapies for the treatment of COVID-19. In this Review, we discuss the immunological aspects of COVID-19 and the potential implication of DMARDs in treating this disease.