Effect of Colchicine vs Standard Care on Cardiac and Inflammatory Biomarkers and Clinical Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized With Coronavirus Disease 2019 The GRECCO-19 Randomized Clinical Trial

The anti-inflammatory agent colchicine might improve outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a randomized, open-label trial in JAMA Network Open. Some 105 hospitalized patients in Greece were assigned to optimal medical therapy either alone or with colchicine (the drug was given twice daily until hospital discharge, or for no more than 21 days). The clinical primary endpoint — a 2-grade increase on a 7-grade scale indicating clinical deterioration — occurred in 2% of the colchicine group versus 14% of the control group. Cardiac troponin and C-reactive protein levels, meanwhile, did not differ between the groups. The authors and commentators caution that the findings should be considered only hypothesis-generating, given the low enrollment and event rates.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2767593