Colchicine may not be effective in COVID-19 infection; it may even be harmful?

Colchicine as a possible therapeutic option in COVID-19 infection

“…The first patient received approximately 80 mg of colchicine or 1.6 mg/kg, while the other patient received 15 to 20 mg or 0.25-0.3 mg/kg of colchicine for acute gout. Both patients had ARDS between 24 and 72 h after the colchicine doses [1]. Both articles [1,6] attributed a direct toxic action of colchicine on pneumocyte microtubules, and the inhibition of surfactant production was deemed the probable cause of death of those patients.…”

“…We reviewed the manuscript recently published by Cumhur Cure M, et al [1], regarding colchicine and COVID-19. The authors discussed the effects of colchicine in intracellular and extracellular pH conditions and argued that low pH levels secondary to colchicine may increase the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 and, therefore, cytokine storms will be more severe.…”

Comment on: “Pharmaco-Immunomodulatory Therapy in COVID-19”

“…Further, to the best of our knowledge, there is no evidence that colchicine at therapeutic doses may reduce the release of surfactants by affecting alveolar type II pneumonocytes. In support of our argument, no references are cited by Cure al [6] or by Rizk et al [1], who include this statement. Conversely, in a pre-print by Dupuis et al (17 July 2020; https ://doi.org/10.21203 /rs.3.rs-43204 /v1), colchicine was administered in an experimental study and authors reported a reduced acute lung injury and improved blood oxygenation by reducing lung neutrophil recruitment in rats pre-treated with colchicine.…”

“…On the other hand, Cure et al [6] supported that colchicine was not only ineffective in COVID-19 patients, but could also exert a negative effect. However, one-by-one the arguments posed by Cure et al have been seriously challenged by Parra-Medina et al [7], Kobak [8] and Piantoni et al [9].…”

Familial Mediterranean Fever and COVID-19: Friends or Foes?

“…Similarly to colchicine, several ongoing trials are evaluating the use of IL-1 pathway inhibitors to treat COVID-19 patients (27)(28)(29)(30). Although first results from COVID-19 patients treated with these repurposed drugs have been conflicting (31)(32)(33), the role of Pyrin (the inflammasome sensor protein that is encoded by MEFV) in modulating severity and outcome of COVID-19 is still unknown.…”