Frequency and severity of COVID‐19 in patients with various rheumatic diseases treated regularly with colchicine or hydroxychloroquine
Mert Oztas, Murat Bektas, Ilker Karacan, Numune Aliyeva, Ayten Dag, Selim Sarvan Aghamuradov, Selim Berke Cevirgen, Selma Sari, Murat Bolayirli, Gunay Can, Gulen Hatemi, Emire Seyahi, Huri Ozdogan, Ahmet Gul, Serdal Ugurlu
Journal of Medical Virology, doi:10.1002/jmv.27731
Introduction. The current study aimed to investigate whether patients regularly using colchicine or hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) have an advantage of protection from COVID-19 or developing less severe disease. Methods. Patients who were taking colchicine or HCQ regularly for a rheumatic disease including Familial Mediterranean Fever, Behçet's syndrome, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome as well as their healthy household contacts as the control group were included into the study. The clinical data regarding COVID-19 were collected using a standard form, and serum samples were analyzed for anti-SARS-COV-2 nucleocapsid IgG. Results. A total of 635 regular colchicine users with their 643 household contacts and 317 regular HCQ users with their 333 household contacts were analyzed. Anti-SARS-Cov2 IgG was positive in 43 (6.8%) regular colchicine users and 35 (5.4%) household contacts (OR=1.3; 95% CI:0.8-2; p=0.3). COVID-19 related symptoms were described by 29 (67.4%) of the patients and 17 (48.6%) household contacts (OR=2.2; 95% CI:0.9-5.5; p=0.09), and hospital admission was observed in five (11.6%) and one (2.9%) of these subjects (OR=4.5; 95% CI:0.5-40.2; p=0.1), respectively. Seropositive subjects were observed in 22 (6.9%) regular HCQ users and 24 (7.2%) household contacts (OR=1.1; CI:0.6-1.9; p=0.8). COVID-19-related symptoms occurred in 16 (72.7%) of the 22 patients and 12 (50%) of 24 household contacts (OR=2.7; 95% CI:0.8-9.1; p=0.1). Three patients (13.6%) were admitted to hospital, while one household contact (4.2%) was hospitalized (OR=3.6; 95% CI:0.3-37.8; p=0.2). Conclusions. Being on a regular treatment of colchicine or HCQ was not resulted in the prevention of COVID-19 or amelioration of its manifestations.
Accepted Article In conclusion, being on the treatment of regular doses of colchicine or HCQ was not effective in the prevention of COVID-19 and ameliorating its manifestations. Nevertheless, these medications did not cause worse outcomes during the course of the COVID-19 neither. However, further studies are needed to assess the preventive role of colchicine or HCQ.
Conflict of Intersest Statement
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