Efficacy of Intravenous Infusions of Stem Cells in the Treatment of COVID-19 Patients

NCT04437823 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: PHASE2 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 5

Last updated 2023-10-17

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Stem cell therapy has emerged as a revolutionary treatment for diseases that were considered untreatable only a few years ago. Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs) have been shown to repair damaged liver, kidney, heart, pancreas, skin, cartilage, and cornea in animal models and several human trials. In addition to cellular replacement through regeneration, UCMSCs mediate through paracrine signaling pathways resulting in immune modulation. Clinical manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), are believed to arise from septic shock and cytokine storm that cause acute respiratory dysfunction and acute cardiac injury. There is presently no cure for the COVID-19 viral disease; however, multi-treatment strategies are being examined. During the past two months, four reports were published that suggest, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), owing to their powerful immunomodulatory ability, may prevent the cytokine storm and thus reduce the COVID-19 related morbidity. All studies reported that COVID-19 patients responded favorably to MSCs therapy. These reports, taken together with the previous successes of stem cell therapy in animal models, the investigators, a seven-institution consortium, propose to explore the efficacy of UCMSC treatment in COVID-19 patients at Jinnah hospital, Lahore. The investigators propose to administer UCMSCs in patients with acute pulmonary inflammation due to COVID-19 infection with moderate to severe symptoms. In the first cohort of 15 patients, UCMSCs will be administered with three intravenous infusions of 500,000 UCMSCs per Kg body weight each on days 1, 3, and 5. The second group of five patients serving as control will only receive standard treatment. During the 30-day post-infusion period, a battery of tests will be performed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the UCMSCs treatment. In parallel, the investigators propose a comparative study to determine COVID-19 viral count by quantitative real-time PCR and through viral coat protein ELISA, developed in the investigator advisor lab (Dr. Tauseef Butt, Progenra Inc. Philadelphia, USA) with the ultimate objective to locally developing a rapid diagnostic assay.

Conditions

  • Corona Virus Infection

Interventions

BIOLOGICAL

Intravenous Infusions of Stem Cells

Cultured stem cells will be injected at days 1, 3 and 5 intravenously. While patients will be monitored and evaluated for various hematological and organ functions at baseline (day 0) and days 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 21 and 30

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Moazzam N Tarar, MBBS, FCPS · Jinnah Burn & Reconstructive Surgery Center, Lahore

  • Azra Mehmood, PhD · Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology, Lahore

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
30 Years
Max Age
70 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2020-06-01
Primary Completion
2021-10-31
Completion
2021-11-30

Countries

  • Pakistan

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04437823 on ClinicalTrials.gov