Efficacy of Nanocurcumin as an Add-On Treatment for Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19: A Double-Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial

• Published in: International journal of clinical practice (Esher) Vol. 2023; pp. 5734675 - 7
• Main Authors: Ahmadi, Sedigheh, Mehrabi, Zeinab, Zare, Morteza, Ghadir, Sara, Masoumi, Seyed Jalil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Hindawi 2023; Hindawi Limited; Hindawi-Wiley
• Subjects: Anti-Inflammatory Agents - therapeutic use; Anticoagulants; Bioavailability; Body mass index; Clinical trials; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 Drug Treatment; Curcumin; Curcumin - therapeutic use; Cytokines; Diabetes; Double-Blind Method; Fatigue; Females; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Humans; Hypertension; Iran; Metabolic disorders; Myalgia; Nanoparticles; Nausea; Normal distribution; Oxygen; Patients; Placebos; Respiration; Respiratory distress syndrome; Rheumatoid arthritis; Rhizomes; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Statistical analysis; Treatment Outcome; Iran
• ISSN: 1368-5031; 1742-1241
• DOI: 10.1155/2023/5734675

Background. Curcumin is a polyphenol derivative of the Curcuma longa rhizome, with potential antioxidant, anticancer, antidepressant, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory effects. This compound can be prepared as biodegradable polymer nanoparticles, called nanocurcumin, to improve its solubility, stability, half-life, and bioavailability. Aim. We explored nanocurcumin’s effect on the clinical manifestations of patients hospitalized with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Methods. This double-blind, randomized clinical trial involved 76 COVID-19 patients admitted to Ali-Asghar Hospital from December 2021 to March 2022. All patients received standard coronavirus treatment as per national guidelines. In addition, four times a day for two weeks, the curcumin group received 40 mg of nanocurcumin, while the control group received a placebo. Clinical manifestations were examined and recorded by the associate doctors working in the department. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS v. 21. Results. Thirty-nine people from the control group and 29 from the curcumin group completed the study. At baseline, the groups were comparable in age, gender, body mass index, hospitalization duration, and background diseases. The mean age of patients in the control and treatment groups was 53.9 ± 11.9 and 54.6 ± 13.4, respectively. Compared with the placebo, nanocurcumin minimized coughs (P=0.036), fatigue (P=0.0001), myalgia (P=0.027), oxygen demand (P=0.036), oxygen usage (P=0.05), and respiratory rate (P<0.0001). By discharge, the curcumin group had a significantly greater increase in SPO2 than the control group (P=0.006). Conclusions. This preliminary study suggests that nanocurcumin has a potentiating anti-inflammatory effect when combined with standard COVID-19 treatment, helping the recovery from the acute inflammatory phase of the disease in hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate disease severity. This trial is registered with Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials: IRCT20211126053183N1 (registered while recruiting on 13/12/2021).