Investigating Lipid-Modulating Agents for Prevention or Treatment of COVID-19

  1. Azita H. Talasaz
  2. Parham Sadeghipour
  3. Maryam Aghakouchakzadeh
  4. Isaac Dreyfus
  5. Hessam Kakavand
  6. Hamid Ariannejad
  7. Aakriti Gupta
  8. Mahesh V. Madhavan
  9. Benjamin W. Van Tassell
  10. David Jimenez
  11. Manuel Monreal
  12. Muthiah Vaduganathan
  13. John Fanikos
  14. Dave L. Dixon
  15. Gregory Piazza
  16. Sahil A. Parikh
  17. Deepak L. Bhatt
  18. Gregory Y.H. Lip
  19. Gregg W. Stone
  20. Harlan M. Krumholz
  21. Peter Libby
  22. Samuel Z. Goldhaber
  23. Behnood Bikdeli

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Abstract

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  1. Version published to 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.08.021
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.05.03.21256468: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    BlindingIn this table, we describe factors such as number of enrollees, comparator types, blinding, type of primary outcomes (clinical or surrogate outcomes), blinded outcome adjudication, and the existence of published design paper are included.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    For RCTs that met the above eligibility criteria, we searched MEDLINE with PubMed Interface, Google scholar, and pre-print servers including medrxiv.org and biorxiv.org for published design papers or final result manuscripts.
    MEDLINE
    suggested: (MEDLINE, RRID:SCR_002185)
    PubMed
    suggested: (PubMed, RRID:SCR_004846)
    Google scholar
    suggested: (Google Scholar, RRID:SCR_008878)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Despite such hope, certain methodological limitations of some of the ongoing RCTs deserve attention. These include small sample size, use of primary surrogate outcomes, and lack of blinded outcome adjudication, which hamper the rigor of the trials. More than one year into the pandemic, 40 RCTs of lipid modifying therapies were identified, with only 21 (with total estimated sample size of 7,675) having double blind design. The results from only one trial have been communicated in preliminary form. In addition, despite the scientific rationale summarized in this manuscript, translation to clinical benefit is not assured. Among the immune-modulating therapies, only steroids have shown consistent efficacy in patients with COVID-19 (43–47). The neutral results with ivermectin (48) and hydroxychloroquine (49), and the mixed results with colchicine (50, 51) and tocilizumab (52, 53), remind us that biological plausibility may not translate to meaningful treatment. Hence, the ongoing lipid modulating therapy RCTs are of particular interest. Statins as Multi-Purpose Drugs?: Despite initial concern that statins might increase expression of ACE2 and facilitate SARS-CoV-2 entry with potential deleterious effects, observational studies suggest an association between antecedent statin use and improved survival. Lee et al. in a population-based propensity matched study of 10,448 patients with COVID-19, showed a significant reduction in hazard of death in statin users compared with non-users ...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: We found the following clinical trial numbers in your paper:

    IdentifierStatusTitle
    NCT04483271Enrolling by invitationThe Effect of Omega-3 on Selected Cytokines Involved in Cyto…
    NCT04658433RecruitingThe Effect of Omega -3 Supplements on the Serum Levels of AC…

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.05.03.21256468v1 on medRxiv