Interleukin-1 blockade with anakinra in acute leukaemia patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia appears safe and may result in clinical improvement

James W Day; Thomas A Fox; Richard Halsey; Ben Carpenter; Panagiotis D Kottaridis

doi:10.1111/bjh.16873

Interleukin-1 blockade with anakinra in acute leukaemia patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia appears safe and may result in clinical improvement

Br J Haematol. 2020 Jul;190(2):e80-e83. doi: 10.1111/bjh.16873. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Authors

James W Day^{1

2}, Thomas A Fox^{1

2}, Richard Halsey¹, Ben Carpenter¹, Panagiotis D Kottaridis¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Haematology, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
² UCL Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, UCL, London, UK.

Abstract

As of 17th May, 2020 the number of patients infected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) worldwide has exceeded 4.5 million (WHO 2020). A subgroup of patients with COVID‐19 pneumonia develop a hyperinflammatory syndrome which has a similar cytokine release profile to secondary haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) (Huang, et al 2020). Immunomodulatory drugs are hypothesised to abrogate the dysfunctional immune response in hyperinflammatory COVID‐19 and are currently being investigated in clinical trials. IL‐1 blockage with anakinra has been shown to be safe and is associated with clinical improvement in patients with hyperinflammatory COVID‐19 (Cavalli, et al 2020).

Keywords: acute leukaemia; haemophagocytic syndrome; immunotherapy; infection.

Publication types

Case Reports
Letter

MeSH terms

Adult
Betacoronavirus
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections / complications*
Humans
Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein / therapeutic use*
Interleukin-1 / antagonists & inhibitors*
Leukemia / drug therapy*
Male
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / complications*
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein
Interleukin-1