Peptide Drug Thymalin Regulates Immune Status in Severe COVID-19 Older Patients

This prospective, randomized clinical trial, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, evaluated the addition of Thymalin to standard treatment in 80 elderly patients with severe COVID-19 hospitalized in a medical facility. Patients were randomized to receive standard therapy alone or standard therapy plus Thymalin, with monitoring of clinical, immunological, and inflammatory parameters.

The results were clinically significant: the Thymalin-treated group showed significantly faster clinical recovery, including earlier resolution of fever and improvement in respiratory parameters. Lymphopenia, an important prognostic marker in severe COVID-19, was reversed more rapidly in the Thymalin group, with normalization of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocyte counts.

• Hospital mortality was halved in the Thymalin group versus control
• Inflammatory markers (CRP, ferritin, IL-6) normalized more rapidly
• Length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in the treated group
• No significant adverse events related to Thymalin were observed

The study is particularly relevant for demonstrating that immunomodulation with thymic peptides can benefit elderly patients with immunosenescence, in whom the adaptive immune response is compromised. The authors proposed that Thymalin acts by restoring cellular immune competence impaired by age-associated thymic involution, an important risk factor for severe outcomes in COVID-19.