Inflawell® improves neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and shortens hospitalization in patients with moderate COVID-19, in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial

Inflammopharmacology - Tập 30 - Trang 465-475 - 2022
Sepideh Barzin Tond1, Laurent Balenci2, Nasim Khajavirad3, Mohammadreza Salehi4, Abbas Tafakhori5, Mohammad Reza Shahmohammadi6, Fereshteh Ghiasvand4, Sirous Jafari4, Sara Abolghasemi7, Farzad Mokhtari2, Somayyeh Mahmoodi Baram2,8, Tayebe Zarei8, Davood Kazemi4, Esmaeil Mohammadnejad9, Akram Shah-Hosseini1, Alireza Haghbin Toutounchi1, Soudabeh Fallah10, Ali Riazi2, Saeed Karima1
1Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU), Tehran, Iran
2Kondor Pharma Inc, Toronto, Canada
3Internal Medicine Department, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran
4Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran
5Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Iranian Center of Neurological Research, Neuroscience Institute, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran
6Functional Neurosurgery Research Center, Shohada Tajrish Comprehensive Neurosurgical Center of Excellence, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU), Tehran, Iran
7Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medial Sciences (SBMU), Tehran, Iran
8Clinical Trial Department, Behbalin Inc, Tehran, Iran
9Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing and Basic Sciences, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran
10Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Tóm tắt

COVID-19 is a significant global threat to public health. Despite the availability of vaccines and anti-viral drugs, there is an urgent need for alternative treatments to help prevent and/or manage COVID-19 symptoms and the underlying dysregulated immune response. We hypothesized that administration of Inflawell® syrup, a Boswellia extract formulation enriched for boswellic acids (BAs), can reduce the excessive or persistent inflammation and thereby prevent disease progression. BAs are medicinally activated triterpenoids found in the resins of Boswellia spp., and possess an immense therapeutic potential due to their anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory activities. We investigated the effect of Inflawell® syrup, on moderate COVID-19 patients along with the current standard of care treatment. A randomized placebo-controlled double-blind clinical trial was conducted, following definitive confirmation of COVID-19. Forty-seven hospitalized patients with moderate COVID-19 were enrolled and received either the Inflawell® syrup or placebo. Clinical symptoms and markers of inflammation were evaluated at baseline and completion of the trial. Our clinical trial revealed an increase in the percentage of oxygen saturation level in patients that received the BAs compared to placebo (P < 0.0001). In addition, the average duration of hospitalization was significantly shorter in the BAs group compared with the placebo group (P < 0.04). Concomitantly, some improvement in the clinical symptoms including cough, dyspnea, myalgia, headache, and olfactory and gustatory dysfunction were detected in the BAs group. Hematologic findings showed a significant decrease in the percentage of neutrophils (P < 0.006) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) levels (P < 0.003), associated with a significant increase in the percentage of lymphocytes in the BAs group compared with the placebo (P < 0.002). Additionally, a significant decrease in CRP, LDH, IL − 6 and TNF − α levels was detected in the BAs group. Following the intervention, fewer patients in the BAs group were PCR-positive for COVID-19 compared to placebo, though not statistically significant. Overall, the treatment with Inflawell® resulted in shorter hospital stay, alleviation of COVID-19 clinical symptoms and decline in the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The trial has been registered in  https://www.irct.ir  with unique identifier: IRCT20170315033086N10 ( https://en.irct.ir/trial/51631 ). IRCT is a primary registry in the WHO registry network ( https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform/network/primary-registries ).

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