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Study · Observational study · n = 76 · 2020

7 results

Thymosin Alpha 1 Reduces the Mortality of Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 by Restoration of Lymphocytopenia and Reversion of Exhausted T Cells.

Liu Y, Pan Y, Hu Z, Wu M, Wang C, Feng Z, Mao C, Tan Y, Liu Y, Chen L, Li M, Wang G and 4 more

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Yuan Z, Diao B, Wu Y, Chen Y

Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America1 Nov 2020Cited by 125 (Europe PMC)

PMID32442287 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC7314217 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1093/cid/ciaa630 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-32442287
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Summary

The text of this summary is not shown here, because the article license does not allow reuse. Read it at the source (opens in a new tab)

Text rights: Publisher copyright. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study7

7 results from studies that gave the peptide. 7 results from people.

  1. 01HumanObservational studyEfficacy outcome

    In adults with severe COVID-19, thymosin alpha‑1 treatment reduced mortality compared with no treatment (11.11% vs 30.00%).

    In plain wordsIn adults with severe COVID-19, fewer patients treated with thymosin alpha‑1 died than untreated patients.

    Peptide
    Thymosin alpha-1
    Outcome
    DecreaseMortality in severe COVID-19
    Study

    n = 76

    Comparator
    Untreated group
    Outcome group
    Mortality · Infection
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Measurements

    Mortality
    11.11%
    Tα1 treated
    Mortality
    30%
    untreated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Compared with the untreated group, Tα1 treatment significantly reduced the mortality of severe COVID-19 patients (11.11% vs 30.00%, P = .044).
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    We retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes of 76 severe COVID-19 cases admitted to 2 hospitals in Wuhan, China, from December 2019 to March 2020.
  2. 02HumanObservational studyEfficacy outcome

    In adults with severe COVID-19 and severe lymphocytopenia, thymosin alpha‑1 enhanced blood T-cell numbers.

    In plain wordsIn adults with severe COVID-19 and low lymphocyte counts, thymosin alpha‑1 raised blood T-cell numbers.

    Peptide
    Thymosin alpha-1
    Outcome
    IncreaseBlood T-cell numbers in severe lymphocytopenia
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Untreated group
    Outcome group
    Immune response · Immune and inflammation
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Tα1 enhanced blood T-cell numbers in COVID-19 patients with severe lymphocytopenia.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    We retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes of 76 severe COVID-19 cases admitted to 2 hospitals in Wuhan, China, from December 2019 to March 2020.
  3. 03HumanObservational studyEfficacy outcome

    In elderly adults with severe COVID-19 and severe lymphocytopenia, thymosin alpha‑1 restored CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell numbers.

    In plain wordsIn elderly adults with severe COVID-19 and low lymphocyte counts, thymosin alpha‑1 restored T-cell numbers.

    Peptide
    Thymosin alpha-1
    Outcome
    IncreaseCD8+ and CD4+ T-cell numbers in elderly patients
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Untreated group
    Outcome group
    Immune response · Immune and inflammation
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Tα1 enhanced blood T-cell numbers in COVID-19 patients with severe lymphocytopenia. Under such conditions, Tα1 also successfully restored CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell numbers in elderly patients.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    We retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes of 76 severe COVID-19 cases admitted to 2 hospitals in Wuhan, China, from December 2019 to March 2020.
  4. 04HumanObservational studyMechanism

    In adults with severe COVID-19, thymosin alpha‑1 reduced PD-1 expression on CD8+ T cells compared with untreated cases.

    In plain wordsIn adults with severe COVID-19, thymosin alpha‑1 lowered an exhaustion marker on T cells compared with no treatment.

    Peptide
    Thymosin alpha-1
    Outcome
    DecreasePD-1 expression on CD8+ T cells
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Untreated group
    Outcome group
    Immune response · Immune and inflammation
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Meanwhile, Tα1 reduced PD-1 and Tim-3 expression on CD8+ T cells from severe COVID-19 patients compared with untreated cases.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    We retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes of 76 severe COVID-19 cases admitted to 2 hospitals in Wuhan, China, from December 2019 to March 2020.
  5. 05HumanObservational studyMechanism

    In adults with severe COVID-19, thymosin alpha‑1 reduced Tim-3 expression on CD8+ T cells compared with untreated cases.

    In plain wordsIn adults with severe COVID-19, thymosin alpha‑1 lowered a second T-cell exhaustion marker compared with no treatment.

    Peptide
    Thymosin alpha-1
    Outcome
    DecreaseTim-3 expression on CD8+ T cells
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Untreated group
    Outcome group
    Immune response · Immune and inflammation
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Meanwhile, Tα1 reduced PD-1 and Tim-3 expression on CD8+ T cells from severe COVID-19 patients compared with untreated cases.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    We retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes of 76 severe COVID-19 cases admitted to 2 hospitals in Wuhan, China, from December 2019 to March 2020.
  6. 06HumanObservational studyMechanism

    In adults with severe COVID-19, restoration of lymphocytopenia and reduced T-cell exhaustion were roughly parallel to a rise of TRECs.

    In plain wordsIn adults with severe COVID-19, T-cell recovery paralleled a rise in a marker of thymus output.

    Peptide
    Thymosin alpha-1
    Outcome
    IncreaseTRECs (thymus output) in relation to T-cell recovery
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Outcome group
    Immune response · Immune and inflammation
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    It is of note that restoration of lymphocytopenia and acute exhaustion of T cells were roughly parallel to the rise of TRECs.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    We retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes of 76 severe COVID-19 cases admitted to 2 hospitals in Wuhan, China, from December 2019 to March 2020.
  7. 07HumanObservational studyEfficacy outcome

    In adults with severe COVID-19, those with circulating CD8+ counts below 400/μL or CD4+ counts below 650/μL gained more benefit from thymosin alpha‑1.

    In plain wordsIn adults with severe COVID-19, patients with low T-cell counts gained more benefit from thymosin alpha‑1.

    Peptide
    Thymosin alpha-1
    Outcome
    Direction not reportedBenefit by baseline CD8+ or CD4+ T-cell count
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Untreated group
    Outcome group
    Mortality · Infection
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    COVID-19 patients with counts of CD8+ T cells or CD4+ T cells in circulation less than 400/μL or 650/μL, respectively, gained more benefits from Tα1.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    We retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes of 76 severe COVID-19 cases admitted to 2 hospitals in Wuhan, China, from December 2019 to March 2020.

AI wrote and checked these results. AI can make mistakes, so check important results against the source.

Registered trials1

Trials this study reports on, or that list this study as a reference. Registry data from ClinicalTrials.gov.

1 trial · 1 stopped early · source ClinicalTrials.gov (opens in a new tab)

TerminatedPhase 2NCT04487444

Thymalfasin (Thymosin Alpha 1) to Treat COVID-19 Infection

Rhode Island Hospitaln = 5610 Sept 2020 to 3 Feb 2023

Covid19

Trial pageClinicalTrials.govUpdated 14 Feb 2023

Version history

PepBank keeps every version of the data on this study. Status changes from Retraction Watch, Europe PMC and Crossref are listed with their source.

  1. Version 3Current

    10 Oct 2026, 08:55 UTC

    Study results updated

  2. Version 2

    9 Oct 2026, 03:03 UTC

    Study data updated · source update from Europe PMC

  3. Version 1

    9 Oct 2026, 03:02 UTC

    First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

Terms as the source lists them.

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