Toronto: Plasma heal does not reduce the risk of intubation or death in Covid-19 patients, according to a study that found that people who received therapy experienced more serious bad events than those who received standard care.
Intubation is a procedure where the tube is inserted into the wind to make it easier to breathe.
Research, published in the journal Nature Medicine, also found that the profile of antibodies in the blood of people who have varied viruses and this can modify the response to treatment.
Plasma therapy recovered using blood from people who have recovered from disease to help others recover.
“It has been thought that the survivors of the blood plasma of Covid-19 will help those who are seriously ill from viruses but, unfortunately, no,” said the main research investigator, Donald Arnold, a professor at the University of McMaster in Canada.
“We warn using plasma recovery to treat covid-19 inpatients unless they are in closely monitored clinical trials,” Arnold said.
The research team also found that patients who received plasma recovery experienced poor events that were significantly more serious than those who received standard care.
The majority of these events are increasing the need for oxygen and deteriorating respiratory failure, they said.
However, the rate of fatal incidence did not differ significantly from the control group of patients who did not receive blood.
Clinical trials, called Concor-1, including 940 patients in 72 hospitals in Canada, USA, and Brazil.
The experiment found that plasma recovery had donor antibody content which varies greatly because the immune response varies with viruses.
Different antibody profiles in plasma recovery were observed significantly impact on whether patients had intubation or death.
Unprofitable antibody profiles, which means low antibody titres, non-functional antibodies or both, are associated with higher risk of intubation or death.
“These findings can explain conflicting results between randomized trials that show no benefit, and observational studies show better results with higher titre products relative to low titre products,” said Co-Principal Study of Investigator Jeannie Callum, a scientist Sunnybrook Research Institute in Canada.
“It seems that it might not be that Plasma Convalescent Titre high is very helpful, but the plasma recovery is a dangerous low titre,” Callum said.
The researchers noted that the loss might come from plasma transfusions recovery containing well-functioning antibodies.
“One hypothesis is that dysfunctional antibodies can compete with their own patient antibodies and can interfere with the improved immune response,” said the Philippe investigator co-principal research began, a professor at Montreal University in Canada.
“This phenomenon has been observed earlier in animal models and in human studies from the HIV vaccine,” said Begar.
He added that Concor-1 investigators expect to collaborate with other international study researchers to understand the potential risks and benefits of plasma recovery.
“Information from the largest Canadian clinical trials in recovery plasma and Covid-19 can be analyzed along with the results of several similar studies that occur in the world to provide stronger information and insights that will guide clinical practice and health policies globally,” it began to be added.