Immune enhancement in patients with predicted severe acute necrotising pancreatitis: a multicentre double-blind randomised controlled trial
Ke L, Zhou J, Mao W, Chen T, Zhu Y, Pan X, et al.. Intensive Care Med. 2022; 48(7):899-909.
PubMed 35713670 · PMC9205279 · doi:10.1007/s00134-022-06745-7
Compares people who got the treatment with people who did not.
Where this design sits
- Cells in a dish
- Animals
- Small human report
- Controlled human trial (this study)
- Pooled analysis
- Who or what was studied
- 508 adults with predicted severe acute necrotising pancreatitis (94% needed intensive care)
- Design
- Multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial
- Dose
- 1.6 mg subcutaneously every 12 hours for 7 days, then once daily for 7 days
- Duration
- 14 days of treatment; outcome counted during the hospital stay
What it found
Thymosin alpha-1 did not reduce infected pancreatic necrosis, the main outcome: 15.7% of the treated group developed it against 18.1% on placebo (difference -2.4 points; P = 0.48). Results were similar across four planned subgroups, and other major complications did not differ clearly between groups.
What it doesn’t show
A hospital trial in severely ill patients that used injections, so it says nothing about supplements or healthy people. It tested one outcome (infected necrosis); the authors do not claim other benefits. A negative result in this population does not rule out effects elsewhere, and does not show harm.
Funding and conflicts of interest
A provincial science and technology project in Jiangsu is listed. Several authors declare consultancy fees, speaker fees or grants from SciClone Pharmaceuticals.
Summary written from the study's abstract and checked against PubMed on November 10, 2026. How we check studies. Educational information, not medical advice.
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