World’s First Experience of the Low-Dose Radionuclide Inhalation Therapy in the Treatment of COVID-19-Associated Viral Pneumonia: Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial

Objective: Previously, low-dose radiation therapy was used for pneumonia treatment. We aimed to investigate the safety and effectiveness of carbon nanoparticles labeled with Technetium isotope (99mTc) in a form of ultradispersed aerosol in combination with standard COVID-19 therapy. The study was a randomized phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trial of low-dose radionuclide inhalation therapy for patients with COVID-19 related pneumonia. Methods: We enrolled 47 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection and early laboratory signs of cytokine storm and randomized them into the Treatment and Control groups. We analyzed blood parameters reflecting the COVID-19 severity and inflammatory response. Results: Low-dose 99mTc-labeled inhalation showed a minimal accumulation of radionuclide in lungs in healthy volunteers. We observed no significant differences between the groups before treatment in WBC-count, D-dimer, CRP, Ferritin or LDH levels. We found that Ferritin and LDH levels significantly raised after the 7th day follow-up only in the Control group (p < 0.0001 and p =0.0005, respectively), while mean values of the same indicators did not change in patients in the Treatment group after the radionuclide treatment. D-dimer values also lowered in the radionuclide treated group, however, this effect was not statistically significant. Furthermore, we observed a significant decrease in CD19+ cell counts in patients of the radionuclide-treated group. Conclusion: Inhalation low-dose radionuclide therapy of 99mTc aerosol affects the major prognostic indicators of COVID-19-related pneumonia restraining inflammatory response. Overall, we identified no evidence of major adverse events in the group receiving radionuclide.