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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020.
World J Virol. Dec 15, 2020; 9(5): 67-78
Published online Dec 15, 2020. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v9.i5.67
Table 1 Summarizing pre-clinical and clinical studies
Pre-clinical studies
Ref.
Year
Application of thymosin alpha 1
Guo et al[36]2015The anti-tumor effect of thymosin alpha 1 was studied on human cancer cell lines. The study concluded that thymosin alpha 1 can decrease proliferation and induce apoptosis in human leukemia, non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, and other cancers. The study concluded that thymosin alpha 1 could be an approach to breast cancer treatment
Clinical studies
Sherman et al[29]2010Thymosin alpha 1 was tested as monotherapy and in combination with interferon-alpha for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. It was also shown to stimulate IL-2 receptor expression and IL-2 internalization and to enhance immune response in patients with immunodeficiency
Eckert et al[30]1994Combination therapy of thymosin alpha 1 and pegylated interferon alpha 2a preferred over interferon monotherapy for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C
Li et al[8]2015Significant decrease in mortality due to multiple organ failure in patients with sepsis
Li et al[6]2010Thymosin alpha 1 can be safely used as an adjuvant to antiretroviral therapy in HIV patients. It helps increase CD4+ count, stimulates the function of CD4+ cells, and helps decrease viral load. By amplifying the activity of catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase, it decreases oxidative damage to tissues. Thymosin alpha 1 reduces tumor cell proliferation in human malignancies by decreasing oxidative stress
Matteucci et al[2]2017Thymosin alpha 1 significantly increases levels of sjTREC in patients with advanced HIV disease
Camerini et al[1]2015Thymosin alpha 1 can be used in pseudomonas infections or infections following bone marrow transplant
Antachopoulos et al[7]2012Thymosin alpha 1 might be effective against mold toxicity
King et al[13]2016Thymosin alpha 1 increases cytokine production and is expected to be beneficial in immunocompromised patients
Pica et al[4]2018It has been postulated that thymosin alpha 1 can help regulate immunity and reduce inflammation in patients with psoriatic arthritis
Panatto et al[31]2011Thymosin alpha 1 has shown promising results as an adjuvant to the influenza vaccine
Carraro et al[3]2012Thymosin alpha 1 improves immunogenicity of the influenza vaccine
Qin et al[32]2009Thymosin alpha 1 can reduce oxidative damage to the pancreas and mitigate the risk of resulting diabetes
Costantini et al[33]2019Thymosin alpha 1 has shown promising results in patients with malignancies, such as metastatic melanoma, head and neck carcinoma, lung cancer, breast cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma
Romani et al[21]2007A single-blind randomized control trial was conducted in six tertiary hospitals in China to study the beneficial effects of thymosin alpha 1 on patients with sepsis. The results showed 9% lower mortality in the treatment group compared to the control group
Sugahara et al[37]2002Patients with chronic hepatitis B who were treated with thymosin alpha 1 showed an overall improvement in serum ALT levels. ALT levels were reduced to normal in 42.9%. A total disappearance of serum HBV DNA was noted in 28.6% of patients