Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36029180›Full record

SynthesisReviews in medical virology2022

Efficacy of tocilizumab in the treatment of COVID-19: An umbrella review.

Mohammad Mahdi Rezaei Tolzali, Maryam Noori, Pourya Shokri, Shayan Rahmani, Shokoufeh Khanzadeh, Seyed Aria Nejadghaderi, Asra Fazlollahi, Mark J M Sullman, Kuljit Singh, Ali-Asghar Kolahi and 2 more

Open access · greenAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Reviews in medical virology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Early hyperferritinemia in polytrauma: a biomarker of systemic inflammation and mortality risk in a multicenter cohort study.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2025
    Observational
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.

Mohammad Mahdi Rezaei TolzaliSchool of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Maryam NooriStudent Research Committee, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Pourya ShokriSchool of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Shayan RahmaniStudent Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.ORCID 0000-0003-4515-9587
Shokoufeh KhanzadehStudent Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Seyed Aria NejadghaderiSchool of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.ORCID 0000-0002-8692-9720
Asra FazlollahiStudent Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Mark J M SullmanDepartment of Life and Health Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Kuljit SinghDepartment of Medicine, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia.
Ali-Asghar KolahiSocial Determinants of Health Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.ORCID 0000-0003-0178-3732
Shahnam ArshiSocial Determinants of Health Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.ORCID 0000-0003-0103-7596
Saeid SafiriResearch Center for Integrative Medicine in Aging, Aging Research Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.ORCID 0000-0001-7986-9072
Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences · IRTabriz University of Medical Sciences · IREducation and Research Network · INGriffith University · AUIran University of Medical Sciences · IRUniversal Scientific Education and Research Network · IRUniversity of Nicosia · CY

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tocilizumab is an interleukin (IL)-6 receptor inhibitor that has been proposed as a therapeutic agent for treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The aim of this umbrella review was to determine the efficacy of tocilizumab in treating COVID-19, and to provide an overview of all systematic reviews on this topic. We systematically searched PubMed, Scopus, the Web of Science collection, the Cochrane library, Epistemonikos, and Google Scholar, as well as the medRxiv preprint server. These databases were searched up to 30 September 2021, using the following keywords: 'SARS-CoV-2', 'COVID-19', 'tocilizumab', 'RHPM-1', 'systematic review', and 'meta-analysis'. Studies were included if they were systematic reviews (with or without meta-analysis) investigating the efficacy or safety of tocilizumab in confirmed COVID-19 patients. The AMSTAR 2 checklist was used to assess quality of the included articles, while publication bias was examined using Egger's test. A total of 50 eligible systematic reviews were included. The pooled estimates showed significant reductions in clinical failure (risk ratio (RR) 0.75; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.61-0.93), deaths (RR 0.78; 95%CI, 0.71-0.85) and the need for mechanical ventilation (RR 0.77; 95%CI, 0.64-0.92) for those receiving tocilizumab compared with the control group. Also, an emerging survival benefit was demonstrated for those who received tocilizumab, over those in the control group (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.52; 95%CI, 0.43-0.63). In addition, tocilizumab substantially increased the number of ventilator-free days, compared with the control treatments (weighted mean difference (WMD) 3.38; 95%CI, 0.51-6.25). Furthermore, lymphocyte count (WMD 0.26 × 10

Indexed as

COVID-19 Drug TreatmentC-Reactive ProteinHumansRespiration, ArtificialSARS-CoV-2Treatment OutcomeC-Reactive ProteinCOVID-19efficacyinterleukin 6SARS-CoV-2tocilizumabumbrella review

Identifiers

PMID36029180
PMCPMC9539231
OpenAlexW4293367208

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.