ReviewAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2021
Anti-inflammatory therapy for COVID-19 infection: the case for colchicine.
Review in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 89 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
89 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 149 citations in OpenAlex.
- Colchicine for the treatment of patients with COVID-19: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.BMJ open · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of colchicine on mortality in patients with COVID-19 - A systematic review and meta-analysis.Diabetes & metabolic syndrome · 2022Pooled it
- Safety and efficacy of colchicine in COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Colchicine, COVID-19 and hematological parameters: A meta-analysis.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2021Pooled it
- Colchicine for the treatment of COVID-19.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Colchicine and mortality in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression.International immunopharmacology · 2021Pooled it
- Colchicine treatment can improve outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical and experimental pharmacology & physiology · 2021Pooled it
- The Efficacy of Colchicine as an Adjunct Therapy in Non-hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.Recent advances in anti-infective drug discovery · 2024Trial
- Colchicine reduces the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in COVID-19 patients.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2023Trial
- Adding colchicine to tocilizumab in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia: An open-label randomized controlled trial.Medicine · 2022Trial
- Colchicine for COVID-19 in the community (PRINCIPLE): a randomised, controlled, adaptive platform trial.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Trial
- Efficacy of short-course colchicine treatment in hospitalized patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia and hyperinflammation: a randomized clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Advancing combination treatment with glycyrrhizin and boswellic acids for hospitalized patients with moderate COVID-19 infection: a randomized clinical trial.Inflammopharmacology · 2022Trial
- Colchicine Is Safe Though Ineffective in the Treatment of Severe COVID-19: a Randomized Clinical Trial (COLCHIVID).Journal of general internal medicine · 2022Trial
- Effect of Colchicine vs Usual Care Alone on Intubation and 28-Day Mortality in Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2021Trial
- Targeting the NLRP3 Inflammasome with Colchicine in COVID-19: Therapeutic Evidence and Future Implications for Influenza.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Candidate treatments for long COVID: a narrative review of expert and patient-driven priorities.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Assessing the Impact of Colchicine on Pulmonary Fibrosis Using Imaging in Patients With Moderate-to-Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia.Canadian respiratory journal · 2026Article
- Article
- Colchicine-BODIPY Probes: Evidence for the Involvement of Intracellular Membranes in the Targeting of Colchicine to Tubulin.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2025Article
29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The search for effective COVID-19 management strategies continues to evolve. Current understanding of SARS-CoV-2 mechanisms suggests a central role for exaggerated activation of the innate immune system as an important contributor to COVID-19 adverse outcomes. The actions of colchicine, one of the oldest anti-inflammatory therapeutics, target multiple mechanisms associated with COVID-19 excessive inflammation. While many COVID-19 trials have sought to manipulate SARS-CoV-2 or dampen the inflammatory response once patients are hospitalised, few examine therapeutics to prevent the need for hospitalisation. Colchicine is easily administered, generally well tolerated and inexpensive, and holds particular promise to reduce the risk of hospitalisation and mortality due to COVID-19 in the outpatient setting. Successful outpatient treatment of COVID-19 could greatly reduce morbidity, mortality and the demand for rare or expensive care resources (front-line healthcare workers, hospital beds, ventilators, biological therapies), to the benefit of both resource-replete and resource-poor regions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.