Results and Prospects of Using Activator of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Differentiation in Complex Therapy for Patients with COVID-19

Khavinson VK, Kuznik BI, Trofimova SV, Volchkov VA, Rukavishnikova SA, Titova ON, Akhmedov TA, Trofimov AV, Potemkin VV, Magen E. Stem Cell Rev Rep. 2021.

Organ: thymus-immune · Type: clinical · Peptides: Thymalin

PMID: 33575961

An open-label, single-center randomized hospital series (n=42 Thymalin + standard care vs n=50 standard care) reported a faster fall in IL-6, CRP, D-dimer, and some T-cell indices; it is not evidence that Thymalin treats COVID-19.

Editorial summary of a 2021 original article in Stem Cell Reviews and Reports. Single-center open-label clinical series from April–July 2020. Public pages cite PubMed only. Read the paper: PMID 33575961.

Methods

Patients hospitalized at St. Petersburg City General Hospital No. 2 with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 (ICD U07.1), moderate or severe disease, lymphopenia, and CT-confirmed bilateral pneumonia with SpO2 ≤ 95%. Envelope randomization: main group n = 42 (25 women, 17 men; mean age 59.8 ± 7.8 years) received standard care plus Thymalin 10 mg intramuscularly once daily for five days (Samson-Med); control n = 50 (27 women, 23 men; 61.7 ± 5.4 years) received standard care only, per Russian Ministry of Health temporary COVID-19 guidelines version 7 (3 June 2020). Both groups received antibacterials, optional off-label antivirals, glucocorticoids, and prophylactic or intermediate-dose enoxaparin. Mean hospital course was about 12 days. The authors frame Thymalin as a calf-thymus peptide complex licensed in Russia since 1982 and discuss prior CD44/CD117/CD28 work on hematopoietic-stem-cell differentiation as background, not as a new assay in this cohort.

Findings

The authors report that standard care already lowered IL-6, C-reactive protein, and D-dimer, and that adding Thymalin accelerated the decline in those markers and in some T-cell indices. They interpret that as a lower thrombotic risk and as a rationale for including Thymalin in complex COVID-19 treatment.

This is one open-label hospital series from 2020, with concurrent off-label antivirals (including hydroxychloroquine in some patients) and no blinding. It is not a large multicenter RCT, not a current treatment guideline, and not a product claim. Independent replication and later evidence are separate questions. Follow the PMID.