COVID-19 convalescent plasma therapy decreases inflammatory cytokines: a randomized controlled trial

Feben Habtehyimer; Xianming Zhu; Andrew D Redd; Kelly A Gebo; Alison G Abraham; Eshan U Patel; Oliver Laeyendecker; Thomas J Gniadek; Reinaldo E Fernandez; Owen R Baker; Malathi Ram; Edward R Cachay; Judith S Currier; Yuriko Fukuta; Jonathan M Gerber; Sonya L Heath; Barry Meisenberg; Moises A Huaman; Adam C Levine; Aarthi Shenoy; Shweta Anjan; Janis E Blair; Daniel Cruser; Donald N Forthal; Laura L Hammitt; Seble Kassaye; Giselle S Mosnaim; Bela Patel; James H Paxton; Jay S Raval; Catherine G Sutcliffe; Matthew Abinante; Kevin S Oei; Valerie Cluzet; Marie Elena Cordisco; Benjamin Greenblatt; William Rausch; David Shade; Amy L Gawad; Sabra L Klein; Andrew Pekosz; Shmuel Shoham; Arturo Casadevall; Evan M Bloch; Daniel Hanley; Aaron A R Tobian; David J Sullivan

doi:10.1128/spectrum.03286-23

COVID-19 convalescent plasma therapy decreases inflammatory cytokines: a randomized controlled trial

Microbiol Spectr. 2024 Jan 11;12(1):e0328623. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.03286-23. Epub 2023 Nov 27.

Authors

Feben Habtehyimer^#¹, Xianming Zhu^#², Andrew D Redd^{1

3}, Kelly A Gebo¹, Alison G Abraham⁴, Eshan U Patel⁵, Oliver Laeyendecker³, Thomas J Gniadek⁶, Reinaldo E Fernandez¹, Owen R Baker¹, Malathi Ram⁷, Edward R Cachay⁸, Judith S Currier⁹, Yuriko Fukuta¹⁰, Jonathan M Gerber¹¹, Sonya L Heath¹², Barry Meisenberg¹³, Moises A Huaman¹⁴, Adam C Levine¹⁵, Aarthi Shenoy¹⁶, Shweta Anjan¹⁷, Janis E Blair¹⁸, Daniel Cruser¹⁹, Donald N Forthal²⁰, Laura L Hammitt⁷, Seble Kassaye²¹, Giselle S Mosnaim²², Bela Patel²³, James H Paxton²⁴, Jay S Raval²⁵, Catherine G Sutcliffe⁷, Matthew Abinante²⁶, Kevin S Oei²⁶, Valerie Cluzet²⁷, Marie Elena Cordisco²⁸, Benjamin Greenblatt²⁹, William Rausch²⁸, David Shade⁵, Amy L Gawad³⁰, Sabra L Klein³⁰, Andrew Pekosz³⁰, Shmuel Shoham¹, Arturo Casadevall³⁰, Evan M Bloch², Daniel Hanley³¹, Aaron A R Tobian², David J Sullivan³⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
² Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
³ Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health , Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus , Aurora, Colorado, USA.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁶ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Northshore University Health System , Evanston, Illinois, USA.
⁷ Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁸ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, San Diego , San Diego, California, USA.
⁹ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, Los Angeles , Los Angeles, California, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine , Houston, Texas, USA.
¹¹ Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School , Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
¹² Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
¹³ Department of Medicine and Research Institute of Luminis Health , Annapolis, Maryland, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Cincinnati , Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Emergency Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University , Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, MedStar Washington Hospital Center , Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine , Miami, Florida, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic Hospital , Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Pathology, Nuvance Health Vassar Brothers Medical Center , Poughkeepsie, New York, USA.
²⁰ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, Irvine , Irvine, California, USA.
²¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Georgetown University Medical Center , Washington, DC, USA.
²² Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Northshore University Health System , Evanston, Illinois, USA.
²³ Department of Medicine, Divisions of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center , Houston, Texas, USA.
²⁴ Department of Emergency Medicine, Wayne State University , Detroit, Michigan, USA.
²⁵ Department of Pathology, University of New Mexico , Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
²⁶ Ascada Research , Fullerton, California, USA.
²⁷ Department of Infectious Disease, Nuvance Health Vassar Brothers Medical Center , Poughkeepsie, New York, USA.
²⁸ Nuvance Health Danbury Hospital , Danbury, Connecticut, USA.
²⁹ Nuvance Health Norwalk Hospital , Norwalk, Connecticut, USA.
³⁰ Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
³¹ Department of Neurology, Brain Injury Outcomes Division, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

This study examined the role that cytokines may have played in the beneficial outcomes found when outpatient individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 were transfused with COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) early in their infection. We found that the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 decreased significantly faster in patients treated early with CCP. Participants with COVID-19 treated with CCP later in the infection did not have the same effect. This decrease in IL-6 levels after early CCP treatment suggests a possible role of inflammation in COVID-19 progression. The evidence of IL-6 involvement brings insight into the possible mechanisms involved in CCP treatment mitigating SARS-CoV-2 severity.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 serotherapy; SARS-CoV-2; chemokines; convalescent plasma; cytokines; randomized trial.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Serotherapy
COVID-19* / therapy
Cytokines
Humans
Immunization, Passive
Interleukin-6
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

Interleukin-6
Cytokines

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding