Colchicine, COVID-19 and hematological parameters: A meta-analysis

Introduction: Colchicine has the potential in reducing patient morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 infection owing to its anti-inflammatory properties. This study aims to determine the efficacy of colchicine in optimizing inflammatory hematological biomarker levels among COVID-19 patients. Methods: In accordance to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 statement guidelines, a systematic search was conducted using the following keywords: Colchicine, covid*, SARS-CoV-2, anti-inflammatory, trials, clinical, hematological, laboratory. Databases were searched from December 2019 until August 26, 2021: MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, Scopus, and EMBASE. Other sources were located through ClinicalTrials.Gov, manually searching SAGE, Science Direct, Elsevier, and Google Scholar. The meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.4. Results: In total, six studies were included, of which four reported c-reactive protein (CRP) standardized mean reductions in the colchicine group (N = 165) as opposed to the control (N = 252; SMD = −0.49, p < 0.001). On noting lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) values post treatment, the colchicine group (N = 204) showed significant reductions at the end of treatment compared to control (N = 290; SMD = −0.85, p < 0.001). Finally, the D-dimer values in colchicine groups (N = 129) compared to control (N = 216) also documented a negative effect size (SMD = −0.9, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Colchicine has efficacy in reducing inflammatory biomarkers observed in moderate-to-severe COVID-19 patients. It may be worthwhile to consider monitoring the clinical and laboratory parameters of patients in further trials to consider colchicine as a strong candidate for an adjunct to COVID-19 treatment.