Zheng QN, Xu MY, Gan FM, Ye SS, Zhao H. Thymosin as a possible therapeutic drug for COVID-19: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2021; 9(16): 4090-4094 [PMID: 34141770 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i16.4090]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hui Zhao, MD, Chief Doctor, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Affiliated Yueqing Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, No. 338 Qingyuan Street, Yueqing 325600, Zhejiang Province, China. 304764851@qq.com
Research Domain of This Article
Infectious Diseases
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Jun 6, 2021; 9(16): 4090-4094 Published online Jun 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i16.4090
Thymosin as a possible therapeutic drug for COVID-19: A case report
Qiong Na Zheng, Mei Yan Xu, Fang Min Gan, Sha Sha Ye, Hui Zhao
Qiong Na Zheng, Mei Yan Xu, Fang Min Gan, Sha Sha Ye, Hui Zhao, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Affiliated Yueqing Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Yueqing 325600, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Zheng QN and Zhao H reviewed the literature and drafted the manuscript; Ye SS drafted all figures; Zheng QN, Xu MY, and Gan FM treated the patient and participated in collecting the data; Zhao H guided the treatment; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported byThe Project for Science and Technology of Wenzhou, No. Y2020278.
Informed consent statement: The patient provided written informed consent for his medical information to be stored and used in the hospital database at the first visit to our center.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no competing interests to report.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hui Zhao, MD, Chief Doctor, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Affiliated Yueqing Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, No. 338 Qingyuan Street, Yueqing 325600, Zhejiang Province, China. 304764851@qq.com
Received: January 22, 2021 Peer-review started: January 22, 2021 First decision: March 25, 2021 Revised: March 28, 2021 Accepted: April 6, 2021 Article in press: April 6, 2021 Published online: June 6, 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND
There are no effective antiviral therapies for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at present. Although most patients with COVID-19 have a mild or moderate course of disease, up to 5%-10% of patients may have a serious and potentially life-threatening condition, indicating an urgent need for effective therapeutic drugs. The therapeutic effect of thymosin on COVID-19 has not been previously studied. In this paper, for the first time we report a case of thymosin treatment of COVID-19.
CASE SUMMARY
A 51-year-old man with imported COVID-19 was admitted with definite symptoms of chest tightness, chest pain, and fatigue. The polymerase chain reaction results for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were negative. The antibody test was positive, confirming the diagnosis of COVID-19. As many orally administered drugs were not well tolerated due to gastrointestinal symptoms, an emergency use of thymosin, a polypeptide consisting of 28 amino acids, was administered by injection. Finally, after the implementation of the treatment program, symptoms and lung imaging improved significantly.
CONCLUSION
In this case report, it is confirmed that thymosin may help alleviate the severity of COVID-19 symptoms.
Core Tip: A 51-year-old Chinese man returned from Russia to Yueqing Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University on April 27, 2020. He had 2-wk symptoms of chest pain, chest tightness, fatigue, and conscious fever. Oxygen inhalation was given and thymosin was injected twice a week, at 1.6 mg per injection. The patient was successfully treated and discharged after 15 d in the hospital.
