Studies suggest that honey and Nigerasativa promote viral clearance in COVID-19 patients

The 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has affected more than 50 million people and killed more than 1.25 million people worldwide. As the virus continues to spread and a second wave is currently occurring in many countries, there is still no effective vaccine against COVID-19. This makes it very important to find an effective drug to treat the disease, and scientists around the world are competing with time to find a cure that will help treat patients with COVID-19.

The ideal treatment will accelerate and reduce the recovery of symptoms Viral load, And promotes virus clearance and reduces mortality. Although there are specific treatments such as hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, dexamethasone, remdesivir, antibody therapy, Convalescent plasma Although it has shown some efficacy, effective treatments to combat severe COVID-19 are not yet realistic.

With this in mind, teams of researchers from various laboratories in Pakistan, Chile, Canada, and the United States recently conducted clinical trials to investigate the potential efficacy of honey and honey combinations. Nigella Sativa (HNS) Treatment of COVID-19 patients.Their research is published on the preprint server medRxiv* Before the scientific peer review process *.Researchers wanted to evaluate because previous studies have shown that both components of HNS demonstrate antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. Effectiveness of HNS in the fight against COVID-19.

With the healing nature of honey Nigella Sativa

Honey has been reported to have beneficial effects on many viruses, including herpes simplex virus (HSV), ruin virus, hepatitis virus, and varicella-zoster virus. It is also effective against many multidrug-resistant bacteria, especially when used in combination with antibiotics. Honey has been shown to be beneficial in the fight against upper respiratory tract infections, in addition to its immunopotentiating effects that stimulate congenital and adaptive immune responses.

Nigera sativa is a medicinal plant commonly known as black cumin and has been shown to have antiviral properties against many viruses, including mouse cytomegalovirus and HCV. In vitro studies have shown that it can reduce the replication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Some of its constituents have a high affinity for many SARS-CoV-2 proteins and enzymes.

The kinetics of grading clinical status on the ordinal scale of COVID-19 patients. This figure shows the dynamic changes in clinical grade score (7-point ordinal scale) in treated COVID-19 patients (HNS) or placebo (control). Note that the number of patients within Scale 1 of the HNS group increases in both moderate and severe cases.

Randomized controlled trials to study the effect of HNS on COVID-19

The researchers conducted a multicenter randomized controlled trial in patients with COVID-19 of varying severity. Randomized patients received either 1 gm / kg / day honey or a combination of 80 mg / kg / day. Nigella Sativa Or a 13-day placebo. Virus clearance, symptoms, alleviation, and 30-day mortality were part of the results.

“Test results show that the use of HNS in COVID-19 patients promotes viral clearance and reduces the severity of the disease.”

Of the 313 patients part of the study cohort, 210 patients with moderate symptoms and 103 patients with severe COVID-19 were randomized. Of these patients, 107 received HNS and 103 moderate cases received placebo. HNS was given to 50 critically ill COVID-19 patients and placebo was given to 53 critically ill patients. Administration of HNS relieved symptoms by day 3 in moderate cases and by day 7 in severe cases.

“The anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, cardioprotective and bronchodilator properties of HNS make it even more beneficial for patients with diabetes, hypertension, heart and asthma who have high COVID-19-related mortality.”

HNS has the potential to be an affordable home OTC treatment option for COVID-19 patients.

Research results show that HNS helped alleviate symptoms and reduce viral clearance and mortality in patients with moderate and severe illness. According to the team, HNS can be used as a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19 patients because it promotes faster recovery and survival. Therefore, they concluded that HNS is an affordable treatment option and can be used alone or in combination with other treatments to combat COVID-19.

Some of the benefits of this potential treatment option are “over-the-counter” availability, affordability (less than $ 5 for the entire treatment course), and ease of management as it can be home care. In addition, HNS can also be used in combination with other drugs to increase efficacy. The authors believe that this treatment will significantly reduce the burden on the global healthcare system.

“”Multinational studies with larger sample sizes are needed to investigate potential variations in response to treatment in patients with COVID-19 of different racial and ethnic origin.“

*Important Notices

medRxiv Publish preliminary scientific reports that should not be considered definitive as they are not peer-reviewed, guide clinical / health-related behaviors, and should not be treated as established information.