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Tardif JC, Bouabdallaoui N, L'Allier PL, Gaudet D, Shah B, Pillinger MH, Lopez-Sendon J, da Luz P, Verret L, Audet S, Dupuis J, Denault A, Pelletier M, Tessier PA, Samson S, Fortin D, Tardif JD, Busseuil D, Goulet E, Lacoste C, Dubois A, Joshi AY, Waters DD, Hsue P, Lepor NE, Lesage F, Sainturet N, Roy-Clavel E, Bassevitch Z, Orfanos A, Stamatescu G, Grégoire JC, Busque L, Lavallée C, Hétu PO, Paquette JS, Deftereos SG, Levesque S, Cossette M, Nozza A, Chabot-Blanchet M, Dubé MP, Guertin MC, Boivin G. Colchicine for community-treated patients with COVID-19 (COLCORONA): a phase 3, randomised, double-blinded, adaptive, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial. Lancet Respir Med 2021. [PMID: 34051877 DOI: 10.1101/2021.01.26.21250494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Evidence suggests a role for excessive inflammation in COVID-19 complications. Colchicine is an oral anti-inflammatory medication beneficial in gout, pericarditis, and coronary disease. We aimed to investigate the effect of colchicine on the composite of COVID-19-related death or hospital admission. METHODS The present study is a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, adaptive, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial. The study was done in Brazil, Canada, Greece, South Africa, Spain, and the USA, and was led by the Montreal Heart Institute. Patients with COVID-19 diagnosed by PCR testing or clinical criteria who were not being treated in hospital were eligible if they were at least 40 years old and had at least one high-risk characteristic. The randomisation list was computer-generated by an unmasked biostatistician, and masked randomisation was centralised and done electronically through an automated interactive web-response system. The allocation sequence was unstratified and used a 1:1 ratio with a blocking schema and block sizes of six. Patients were randomly assigned to receive orally administered colchicine (0·5 mg twice per day for 3 days and then once per day for 27 days thereafter) or matching placebo. The primary efficacy endpoint was the composite of death or hospital admission for COVID-19. Vital status at the end of the study was available for 97·9% of patients. The analyses were done according to the intention-to-treat principle. The COLCORONA trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04322682) and is now closed to new participants. FINDINGS Trial enrolment began in March 23, 2020, and was completed in Dec 22, 2020. A total of 4488 patients (53·9% women; median age 54·0 years, IQR 47·0-61·0) were enrolled and 2235 patients were randomly assigned to colchicine and 2253 to placebo. The primary endpoint occurred in 104 (4·7%) of 2235 patients in the colchicine group and 131 (5·8%) of 2253 patients in the placebo group (odds ratio [OR] 0·79, 95·1% CI 0·61-1·03; p=0·081). Among the 4159 patients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19, the primary endpoint occurred in 96 (4·6%) of 2075 patients in the colchicine group and 126 (6·0%) of 2084 patients in the placebo group (OR 0·75, 0·57-0·99; p=0·042). Serious adverse events were reported in 108 (4·9%) of 2195 patients in the colchicine group and 139 (6·3%) of 2217 patients in the placebo group (p=0·051); pneumonia occurred in 63 (2·9%) of 2195 patients in the colchicine group and 92 (4·1%) of 2217 patients in the placebo group (p=0·021). Diarrhoea was reported in 300 (13·7%) of 2195 patients in the colchicine group and 161 (7·3%) of 2217 patients in the placebo group (p<0·0001). INTERPRETATION In community-treated patients including those without a mandatory diagnostic test, the effect of colchicine on COVID-19-related clinical events was not statistically significant. Among patients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19, colchicine led to a lower rate of the composite of death or hospital admission than placebo. Given the absence of orally administered therapies to prevent COVID-19 complications in community-treated patients and the benefit of colchicine in patients with PCR-proven COVID-19, this safe and inexpensive anti-inflammatory agent could be considered for use in those at risk of complications. Notwithstanding these considerations, replication in other studies of PCR-positive community-treated patients is recommended. FUNDING The Government of Quebec, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the US National Institutes of Health, the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation, the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the Rudin Family Foundation, and philanthropist Sophie Desmarais.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Daniel Gaudet
- Ecogene-21, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Binita Shah
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | | | | | - Protasio da Luz
- Instituto do Coração, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil
| | - Lucie Verret
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Sylvia Audet
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Jocelyn Dupuis
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - André Denault
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Martin Pelletier
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada
| | - Philippe A Tessier
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada
| | - Sarah Samson
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Denis Fortin
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | | | - David Busseuil
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Elisabeth Goulet
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Chantal Lacoste
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Anick Dubois
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | | | | | | | - Norman E Lepor
- Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, Geffen School of Medicine-UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Frédéric Lesage
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Nicolas Sainturet
- Montréal Health Innovations Coordinating Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Eve Roy-Clavel
- Montréal Health Innovations Coordinating Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Zohar Bassevitch
- Montréal Health Innovations Coordinating Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Andreas Orfanos
- Montréal Health Innovations Coordinating Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Jean C Grégoire
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Lambert Busque
- Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Christian Lavallée
- Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | | | | | - Spyridon G Deftereos
- Second Department of Cardiology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Sylvie Levesque
- Montréal Health Innovations Coordinating Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Mariève Cossette
- Montréal Health Innovations Coordinating Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Anna Nozza
- Montréal Health Innovations Coordinating Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Marie-Pierre Dubé
- Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Guy Boivin
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada
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