Prospective Open-Label Pilot Study of Arginine Replacement Therapy in Children Hospitalized With COVID-19
Emory University
Summary
This study aims to investigate if receiving doses of arginine (a protein in the body) will improve mitochondria function in children with COVID-19. The study will be performed at the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Arthur M. Blank Hospital. Patients will be randomized to receive one of three doses of arginine three times a day for five days or at discharge whichever comes first.
Description
In the early stages of COVID-19, it was believed that children were immune or had very mild disease. Given the unfolding pandemic, children's cases are exhibiting an increasing global trend and are associated with some serious complications in addition to more long-term complications such as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and "Long Covid". A significant number of hospitalized and critically ill pediatric patients have now been documented, in addition to a high number of emergency department (ED) visits despite previous reports suggesting rare or mild disease in children.…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 3–21 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Established diagnosis of COVID-19 requiring admission to the hospital for treatment of COVID-19 infection * Age 3 years - 21 years of age Exclusion Criteria: * Severe hepatic dysfunction: ALT\> 6 x Upper limit of normal * Renal dysfunction: Creatinine \> 1.5 x upper limit of normal or on dialysis * Acute Stroke * Pregnancy * Allergy to arginine * Past history of severe cardiac disease or significant cardiac surgery \[minor procedures like ventricular septal defect (VSD) repair are not an exclusion\] * History of significant pulmonary disease \[Cystic Fibrosis, sickle c…
Interventions
- DrugArginine Hydrochloride
Arginine will be infused based on the manufacturer's instructions (R-Gene 10, Pfizer), over 30 minutes. However, rates may be slowed to over 60 minutes for patients experiencing symptoms of flushing, nausea, vomiting, or headache at the research team's discretion. Pediatric doses will be drawn up by the pharmacy.
Location
- Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), Arthur M. BlankAtlanta, Georgia