Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital are reporting promising results in the fight against COVID-19 with the use of a cheap and easily available steroid.
In a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Disease -- medical experts say the early use of Methylprednisolone helped patients from reaching the severe stages of COVID-19.
The patients, compared to earlier patients not treated with the steroid were less likely to be placed in intensive care, intubated, put on a ventilator or dying.
"Use of methylprednisolone early in hospitalization can beneficially affect the body’s immune reaction and systemic inflammatory responses – the cytokine storm – in COVID-19,” said study author Dr. Mayur Ramesh, Senior Staff Physician in the Henry Ford Health System Division of Infectious Disease at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
The FDA-approved anti-inflammatory drug is typically used to decrease immune response that results in swelling, pain, and allergic-type reactions. It’s most commonly used to treat blood disorders, arthritis, severe allergic reactions, certain cancers, eye conditions, diseases of the skin, kidney, intestines or lung, and immune system disorders.
In this study, doctors looked at 213 patients who were admitted to Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit for COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic. The study compared 81 patients admitted between March 10 and March 19 to 132 patients admitted later in the early stages of the pandemic, between March 20 and March 27. The later patients received the steroid protocol, which was implemented on March 20.
When comparing the two groups, those patients treated with a 3-day methylprednisolone protocol implemented on March 20 spent less time in the hospital (5 vs 8 days) and were less likely to be admitted to the ICU (27% vs 44%), being placed on a ventilator (22% vs 37%) or dying (14% vs 26%), according to study results.
Note that the Henry Ford study used a different steroid than dexamethasone, a medication used in Oxford University’s recovery trial that made headlines earlier this week. That trial had similar positive results in treating COVID-19 patients in the United Kingdom.
And the two results work in concert.
“In the recovery trial, the steroid dexamethasone had a mortality benefit in patients who are severely ill,” Dr. Ramesh said. “In our trial, early use of the steroid methylprednisolone prevented patients from getting to the severe stages of COVID-19, therefore reducing mortality. So it seems there may be appropriate use for both in different stages of the virus. But early use of methylprednisolone seems to help avoid progression of illness altogether.”
The Detroit study researchers pointed out that three days of early corticosteroids were administered to patients two days into their hospitalization and eight days from symptom onset. However, the administration of a three-day course of corticosteroids later in the disease – 5 days after hospitalization – did not appear to produce the same benefit.
“It seems to be crucial for patients with COVID-19 symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, to receive corticosteroid early in hospitalization to prevent ICU admission and death,” Dr. Ramesh added.
The use of steroids is one of many examples of how Henry Ford Health System caregivers used a multi-faceted approach to treat patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to early-use steroids, Henry Ford medical teams have used a combination of Remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, Interlukin 6, convalescent plasma, proning and other measures to provide treatment for COVID-19.
“Caregivers like Dr. Ramesh have been integral to pushing science forward in the treatment of COVID-19,” said Dr. Steven Kalkanis, CEO of the Henry Ford Medical Group and Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer for Henry Ford Health System. “They have saved lives, there is no doubt about it.”
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