Anti-inflammatory drug Tocilizumab, long used to
treat rheumatoid arthritis has been shown to reduce fatality among critically
ill COVID-19 patients by 30% when dispensed within the first two days
of hospitalisation, according to a study led by an Indian-origin researcher in
the US.

Unlike steroids which aggravate the inefficiency of
immune system more broadly, tocilizumab specifically inhibits the receptor for
the pro-inflammatory cytokine, IL-6.

The researchers led by Shruti Gupta and David E.
Leaf from Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital investigated the impacts
of the tocilizumab drug on critically ill corona positive patients, according to PTI.

In the intensive clinical study, researchers found
that there was a 30% relative decline in mortality rate in the patients
who were administered tocilizumab in comparison to the patients whose treatment
did not include usage of the drug within first two days of intensive care unit
(ICU) admission.

“Tocilizumab has been used
for several years to treat a condition known as cytokine release syndrome,
which can be observed in cancer patients receiving certain types of
immunotherapy”,
 quoted Leaf, the senior author of the
study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine to PTI.

“In the setting of
COVID-19, it has been observed that much of the morbidity and mortality that
occurs may be due to our own body’s inflammatory response to the virus as
opposed to the virus itself,” Leaf added.

At present, Tocilizumab is approved to be treated
for the cure of rheumatoid and giant cell arthritis, an inflammatory condition
affecting large blood vessels.

As per PTI, The study collaborated with 68 sites,
mainly hospitals across the US, tracking the data accumulated from around 4000
critically ill corona positive patients.

Out of 3,924 patients included in the analysis, 433
were discharged tocilizumab in the first two days of being admitted to the ICU.

The mortality risk rate after 30 days of drug administration
was 27.5 and 37.1 per cent among tocilizumab-treated and
non-tocilizumab-treated patients, respectively; the researchers said according
to PTI’s report.

The advantageous impact of tocilizumab on life
expectancy was consistent across the categories of age, sex, and illness
severity as per the researchers.

According to the researchers, Patients with faster
disease trajectory were comparatively more benefited from tocilizumab than
patients with a slower disease orbit, reported PTI.

Shruti Gupta, lead author of the study as quoted by
PTI said, “Though there are conflicting data from clinical trials
regarding the efficacy of tocilizumab in COVID-19, our study differs from these
trials in several important ways,”

“We
specifically focused on critically ill patients. We focused on early use of
tocilizumab (defined as the first 2 days of ICU admission), and we included a
much larger number of patients (4,000 compared to approximately 400),”
Gupta added.