Study suggests honey and Nigella sativa speed up viral clearance in COVID-19 patients

The 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) has so far affected more than 50 million people and killed more than 1.25 million worldwide. As the virus continues to spread and many countries are currently experiencing a second wave, we still do not have an effective vaccine against COVID-19. This makes the search for an effective drug to treat the disease very important, and scientists around the world are racing against time to find therapeutic solutions that will help treat patients with COVID-19.

An ideal treatment would speed up healing of symptoms, lower viral load, speed up viral clearance and reduce mortality. Although some treatments such as hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, dexamethasone, remdesivir, antibodies, and convalescent plasma have shown some effectiveness, an effective treatment for severe COVID-19 is still not effective. reality.

With this in mind, a team of researchers from various institutes in Pakistan, Chile, Canada, and the United States recently conducted a clinical trial to investigate the potential effectiveness of a combination of honey and Nigella sativa (HNS) in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Their study is published on the medRxiv * pre-print server before the scientific peer review * process. Since previous studies show that both components of HNS have proven antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, the researchers wanted to assess the effectiveness of HNS in fighting COVID-19.

Healing properties of honey and Nigella sativa

Honey has been reported to have beneficial effects against many viruses, including herpes simplex virus (HSV), rubella virus, hepatitis virus and varicella zoster virus. It is also effective against many multidrug resistant bacterial strains, especially when used with antibiotics. In addition to its immunity boosting effects that stimulate innate and adaptive immune responses, honey has been shown to be beneficial in fighting upper respiratory tract infections.

Nigella sativa is a herbal remedy 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 may decrease the replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Some of its components have a strong affinity for many SARS-CoV-2 proteins and enzymes.

Kinetics of clinical status classification on the ordinal scale in COVID-19 patients. The figure shows the kinetic changes in clinical quality score (on a 7-point ordinal scale) in a COVID-19 patient receiving treatment (HNS) or a placebo (control). Note increases the number of patients in scale 1 in the HNS group for both moderate and severe cases.

A randomized controlled trial to study the action of HNS against COVID-19

Researchers performed a multicenter randomized controlled trial in patients with COVID-19 of varying severity. Randomized patients received either a combination of 1 g / kg / day of honey and 80 mg / kg / day of Nigella sativa or a placebo for 13 days. Viral clearance, symptoms, attenuation and 30-day mortality were among the results.

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

Of the 313 patients in the study cohort, 210 patients with moderate symptoms and 103 with severe COVID-19 were randomized. Of these patients, 107 received HNS and 103 moderate cases received placebo. Fifty patients with severe COVID-19 received NHS and 53 severe cases received placebo. Administration of HNS resulted in an improvement of symptoms on day 3 in moderate cases and on day 7 in severe cases.

“The anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, cardioprotective and bronchodilator properties of HNS make it even more beneficial in diabetic, hypertensive, cardiac and asthma patients whose mortality associated with COVID-19 is higher.”

HNS could be an affordable, at-home, over-the-counter treatment option for patients with COVID-19

Study results show that HNS contributed to symptom alleviation and viral clearance and reduced mortality in patients with moderate and severe disease. According to the team, HNS can be used as a safe and effective treatment in COVID-19 patients because it promotes faster recovery and survival. Thus, they concluded that HNS represents an affordable treatment option and can be used alone or in combination with other therapies to fight COVID-19.

Some advantages of this potential treatment option are its “over-the-counter” availability, affordability – less than $ 5 for the entire treatment, and ease of administration as it can be a home remedy. In addition, HNS can also be used in combination with other drugs for increased effectiveness. The authors believe that this treatment will significantly reduce the burden on global health systems.

“A multinational study with a larger sample size is needed to investigate potential variations in responses to treatment in COVID-19 patients of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.“

*Important Notice

medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer reviewed and, therefore, should not be considered conclusive, guide clinical practice / health-related behaviors, or be treated as established information.