Supporting information
inflammation, infection
RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, INFLAMMATION, SEQUELAE, INFECTION
Janette Furuzawa‐Carballeda, Paola V. Olguín‐Rodríguez, Gonzalo Torres‐Villalobosand Antonio Barajas‐Martínez contributed equally to this work.Dear Editor,Current research focuses on understanding the physiological recovery process from COVID‐19 at a systemic level. Post‐acute sequelae COVID‐19 (PASC) comprise persistent and/or delayed effects beyond 4 weeks after symptom onset.Polymerised type I collagen (PTIC) is a potential drug for treating COVID‐19 patients, proven to be effective against rheumatoid arthritis,We analysed the data from a double‐blind, randomised controlled trial of PTIC,Between August 31 and November 7, 2020, 89 unvaccinated adult outpatients with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)‐confirmed COVID‐19 were treated at the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán. They were randomly allocated to receive either 1.5 mL of PTIC intramuscularly every 12 h for 3 days, followed by every 24 h for 4 days (Our analysis focused only on patients who had completed all assessments in both the PTIC group (To assess the treatment effects, we obtained relative values for each variable and all groups using Equation (In the groups of male participants, significant changes were observed in the essential mediators for inflammation regulation (Figure Figure Significant relative physiological variables on days 1, 8 and 90 post‐treatment, distinguishing between men (left‐hand side) and women (right‐hand side) and also distinguishing between the placebo group (green‐coloured arrows) and the PTIC treatment group (red‐coloured arrows). Shown are changes in magnitude for each variable compared with the baseline (increases represented by upwards arrows and decreases by downwards arrows). PTIC, Polymerised type I collagen.In contrast to women, PTIC administration in men only affected transiently a few variables (Figure Network adjacency was calculated using a Spearman correlation matrix, filtered with Physiological networks for (A) the male placebo group, (B) the female placebo group, (C) the male PTIC treatment group and (D) the female PTIC treatment group, at baseline and for days 1, 8 and 90 post‐treatment. PTIC, Polymerised type I collagen.Figure Correlation coefficients between physiological networks at baseline and days 1, 8 and 90 post‐treatment for (A) the placebo group and (B) the PTIC group. PTIC, Polymerised type I collagen.This study confirms previous findings that women with COVID‐19 experience better outcomes when they receive treatment. In the placebo group, women exhibited a higher correlation between their physiological networks at baseline and 90 days post‐treatment, indicating a slower recovery.In summary, physiological networks can serve as a valuable tool for evaluating the recovery of PASC. The topological features of the physiological networks of men are more vulnerable to acute disturbances than those of women. However, their flexibility increases the expediency of the return to normalcy from an altered state. This would be advantageous when considering long‐term recovery from a post‐acute infection. Administration of PTIC reduced hyperinflammation, leading to a decrease in the correlation between physiological networks at baseline and post‐treatment days in the PTIC group. In contrast, the placebo group of women continued to exhibit a strong similarity to the network at baseline, even after a 90‐days post‐treatment. Immunomodulatory drugs, such as PTIC, may necessitate an extended course in women with a robust physiological network.Supporting InformationClick here for additional data file.Supporting InformationClick here for additional data file.Supporting InformationClick here for additional data file.Supporting InformationClick here for additional data file.Supporting InformationClick here for additional data file.Supporting InformationClick here for additional data file.Supporting InformationClick here for additional data file.