Effects of Ginger on clinical manifestations and paraclinical features of patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome due to COVID-19: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

• Published in: Current controlled trials in cardiovascular medicine Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 841 - 2
• Main Authors: Safa, Omid, Hassaniazad, Mehdi, Farashahinejad, Mehdi, Davoodian, Parivash, Dadvand, Habib, Hassanipour, Soheil, Fathalipour, Mohammad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 09.10.2020; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Adult; Betacoronavirus - isolation & purification; C-reactive protein; Care and treatment; Clinical trials; Complications and side effects; Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis; Coronavirus Infections - drug therapy; Coronavirus Infections - physiopathology; Coronavirus Infections - therapy; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 Drug Treatment; Double-Blind Method; Drug Monitoring - methods; Female; GI symptoms; Ginger; Health aspects; Humans; Iran; Letter; Male; Methods; Pandemics; Pharmaceutical industry; Phytotherapy - methods; Plant Preparations - pharmacology; Pneumonia; Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis; Pneumonia, Viral - physiopathology; Pneumonia, Viral - therapy; Protocol; Randomized controlled trial; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Registration; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Severity of Illness Index; Symptom Assessment - methods; Tablets; Testing; Zingiber officinale; Iran; COVID-19; C-reactive protein; Ginger; Protocol; Randomized controlled trial; GI symptoms
• ISSN: 1745-6215; 1745-6215
• DOI: 10.1186/s13063-020-04765-6

We investigate the effects of Ginger, compared to the usual therapeutic regimen on clinical manifestations and paraclinical features in patients with confirmed COVID-19 that are moderately ill. This is a single center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with parallel group design. Inclusion criteria: 1. Patients admitted to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Departments at Shahid Mohammadi Hospital, Bandar Abbas, Iran 2. Age ≥18 years (weight ≥35 kg) 3. Hospitalized ≤48 hours 4. Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis (Positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR)) 5. Moderate pneumonia and lung involvement in imaging 6. Signing informed consent and willingness of study participant to accept randomization to any assigned treatment arm Exclusion criteria: 1. Underlying diseases, including heart disease, chronic hypertension, severe renal failure, severe liver failure, and thyroid disorders 2. Use of warfarin, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), diuretics, corticosteroids, and antiarrhythmic drugs 3. Severe and critical pneumonia 4. History of known allergy to Ginger 5. Pregnancy and breastfeeding INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: Intervention group: The standard treatment regimen for COVID-19 along with Ginger-based herbal tablets (Vomigone ®, Dineh Pharmaceutical Company, Iran) at a dose of 1000 mg three times a day for a period of seven days. The standard treatment for COVID-19 based on the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education's protocol, along with Vomigone-like placebo tablets (Dineh Pharmaceutical Company, Iran) at a dose of two tablets three times a day for a period of seven days. The primary outcome is recovery rate of clinical symptoms, including fever, dry cough, tiredness, and GI symptoms as well as paraclinical features, including thrombocytopenia, lymphocytopenia, and C-reactive protein within seven days of randomization. Time to improvement of clinical and paraclinical features along with the incidence of serious adverse events are the secondary outcomes within seven days of randomization. An interactive web-based system will be used to allocate eligible participants, based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, to one of the two study arms (in a 1:1 ratio) using block randomization. All study participants, research coordinators, clinicians, nurses, and investigators will be blinded to the group assignment. A total of 84 participants will be randomized into two groups of 42 patients. The protocol is Version 1.0, May 23, 2020. Recruitment began July 21, 2020, and is anticipated to be completed by October 30, 2020. This clinical trial has been registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT). The registration number is " IRCT20200506047323N1 ". Registration date is 23 May 2020. The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol.