A systematic review and meta-analysis of the safety of anti-interleukin therapy in COVID-19

Abstract

Objective. To evaluate safety of anti-interleukin drugs used as a pathogenetic therapy of COVID-19 as assessed by risks of infectious complications. Materials and Methods. A systematic review of publications related to safety assessment of anti-interleukin drugs recommended as pathogenetic therapy in COVID-19 patients in terms of incidence of serious adverse events and adverse events of “Infections and Invasions” class and a meta-analysis of the data were performed. Results. The meta-analysis included 16 randomized and 3 non-randomized studies. The hazard ratio of serious adverse events between the comparison groups was 0.93 [95% CI 0.85; 1.01] (p = 0.1), the hazard ratio of adverse event of “Infections and Invasions” class was 0.9 [95% CI 0.8; 1.02] (p = 0.09), showing no differences in the incidence of those events. Conclusions. This meta-analysis did not demonstrate statistically significant differences in the relative risks of serious adverse events and adverse events of “Infections and Invasions” class for the use of antiinterleukin drugs in COVID-19 patients.

Keywords

• covid-19
• pathogenetic therapy
• anti-interleukin drugs
• adverse events
• infections