Insights & Discussion
Among the patients hospitalized for COVID-19, the use of Qingfei Paidu Tang was associated with halving the risk of mortality, without raising the risk of acute liver injury or acute kidney injury.
Of the 8939 patients included, 28.7% received QPT. The COVID-19 related mortality was 1.2% among the patients receiving QPT and 4.8% among those not receiving QPT. After adjustment for patient characteristics and concomitant treatments, QPT use was associated with a relative reduction of 50% in-hospital COVID-19 related mortality. This association was consistent across subgroups by sex and age.
Meanwhile, the incidences of acute liver injury and acute kidney injury were comparable between patients receiving QPT and those not receiving QPT. The major study limitations included that the study was an observational study based on real-world data rather than a randomized control trial, and the quality of data could be affected by the accuracy and completeness of medical records.
In this analysis based on a national registry of hospitalized patients with COVID-19, we first demonstrated that QPT use was associated with halving the risk of in-hospital mortality, without any significant increase in the risk of adverse effects, such as acute liver injury or acute kidney injury. Our findings have provided new evidence and insights regarding the treatment of COVID-19.
Discover Related Insights
Pomegranate juice consumption appears to somewhat enhance inflammatory status and complete blood count in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
2023 Complementary Therapies in Medicine Adjuvant pomegranate juice intake improves the inflammatory status of hospitalized COVID-19 patients: A randomized and placebo-controlled trial Yousefi M, Sadriirani M, Mahmoodi S, Samimi B, Pourmahmoudi A, Hosseinikia M, et al.
Randomised Controlled Trial Inflammation
The study was a randomized, double-blinded placebo-controlled trial involving 48 patients and had two parallel arms. As part of their standard hospital care, patients were either given 500 mL of whole pomegranate juice daily or a placebo for a period of 14 days. The researchers focused on measuring inflammatory indicators and complete blood counts both at the start of the study and at the end of the 14-day intervention period.
Following the 14-day intervention, there was a distinguishable decrease in primary outcomes including inflammatory markers such as C reactive protein, interleukin-6, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate in the group that consumed pomegranate juice as compared to the readings before the intervention. In addition, considerable changes were also observed in secondary outcomes such as neutrophils, lymphocytes, platelets, platelets-to-lymphocyte and neutrophils-to-lymphocyte ratios in the pomegranate juice group compared to the parameters before the intervention. Finally, the mean changes in levels of interleukin-6, white blood cells, neutrophils, lymphocyte, platelets, platelets-to-lymphocyte ratio, blood oxygen saturation and MCV were significantly different between the two groups by the end of intervention, while no significant difference was noted in other blood indices.
High doses of vitamin C, vitamin D supplementation and natural honey can potentially decrease fatalities and support the management of COVID-19.
2022 Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Impact of supplemental vitamins and natural honey for treatment of COVID-19: A review Rabby MII, Hossain F, Islam MA, Islam AKMS, Akhi IJ, Akter F
Review Article Vitamin C
The team undertook a systematic analysis of existing literature and pertinent clinical trials to evaluate the potential of vitamin C, vitamin D, and natural honey intervention during the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic. This assessment aimed to determine the impact of these substances upon the outcomes of COVID-19, particularly in reducing respiratory damage and potentially improving patient immunity.
The research revealed that substantial doses of vitamin C illustrated to lower lung damage and reduce intensive care stay duration for COVID-19 patients. It was observed that vitamin D deficiency is common among individuals living in institutions, and having supplements could aid in defending against respiratory infections. Natural honey, due to its antiviral effects and immune-enhancement capacities, also displayed promising results in treating COVID-19. The acquired evidence drove the belief that administering vitamin C, vitamin D, and natural honey, along with the existing treatment protocols, could potentially be a compelling method to decrease fatalities associated with COVID-19.
Drinking pomegranate juice and sumac can help reduce symptoms in outpatients diagnosed with COVID-19, alongside standard treatment.
2022 Mediators of Inflammation The Effect of Pomegranate Juice and Sumac Consumption in the Treatment of Outpatients with COVID-19 Forouzanfar F, Ahmadpoor M, Farahi MM, Hadianfar A, Sahebkar A, Esmaily H, et al.
Randomised Controlled Trial Pomegranate Sumac
In the applied methodology, two groups were randomly formed from 182 outpatients with COVID-19. The first group had a diet containing pomegranate juice and sumac, in addition to their standard treatment. The second group, the control group, stuck to the standard treatment only.
The results from the study show that outpatients with COVID-19 who consumed a diet containing pomegranate juice and sumac, along with their standard treatment, experienced a significant decrease in their symptoms. Such symptoms include fever, chills, coughing, weakness, smell and taste disorders, shortness of breath, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, and abdominal pain. This decrease in symptoms was in comparison to the outpatients with COVID-19 who underwent only the standard treatment. Overall, the consumption of pomegranate juice and sumac has shown to be beneficial in reducing COVID-19 related symptoms.
Qingfei Paidu Decoction might significantly inhibit IL-6 and TNF-α signaling pathways in regulating COVID-19-related cytokine storm.
2021 Science Bulletin A large-scale transcriptional study reveals inhibition of COVID-19 related cytokine storm by traditional Chinese medicines Yifei Dai, Weijie Qiang, Yu Gui, Xue Tan, Tianli Pei, Kequan Lin, et al.
We evaluated the effects of 578 herbs and all 338 reported anti-COVID-19 TCM formulae on cytokine storm-related signaling pathways, and identified the key targets of the relevant pathways and potential active ingredients in these herbs.
A total of 16 herbs was identified to have a significant inhibitory effect on the IL-6 pathway, while 37 herbs suppress the TNF-α pathway significantly. In the heatmap of gene expression induced by these herbs, more than half of the genes are down-regulated, suggesting that these herbs have a significant inhibitory effect on the expression of cytokine storm-related genes.
By combining the HTS2 assay and herb scoring results, we constructed a formula-herb-gene-pathway network diagram of Qingfei Paidu Decoction. In this formula, we identified 4 herbs with an inhibitory effect on the IL-6 or TNF-α pathways, including Guizhi, which significantly inhibits the IL-6 pathway, and Shegan, Baizhu, and Zexie, which significantly inhibit the TNF-α pathway.
Traditional Chinese medicine could reduce the all-cause mortality in COVID-19 patients, inhibit virus replication and transcription, and attenuate the cytokine storm and immune deficiency caused by the SARS-CoV-2.
2021 Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy The direct evidence and mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine treatment of COVID-19 Xuedong An, YueHong Zhang, Liyun Duan, De Jin, Shenghui Zhao, RongRong Zhou, et al.
Presently, there is good evidence that TCM can effectively alleviate the symptoms of patients with suspected and confirmed COVID-19, delay the progression from mild and moderate to severe and critical disease, and reduce severe and critical all-cause mortality. The role of TCM is related to affecting the transcription, replication, and binding of SARS-CoV-2 to the host and attenuating the cytokine storm and weak immunity in patients with COVID-19.
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