Effect of Spirulina as a nutritional supplement and drug in COVID-19 patients

Abstract

Spirulina is highly nutritious and has hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic and antihypertensive properties. Spirulina contains several bioactive compounds, such as phenols, phycobiliproteins and sulphated polysaccharides and many more with proven antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunostimulant/immunomodulatory effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of Spirulina in patients with Covid-19. Methods and Materials: In this clinical trial study, 80 patients with Covid-19 whose diagnosis was confirmed by PCR and presented as outpatients with stable vital signs were quarantined and evaluated in two groups of intervention and placebo. 40 patients entered the intervention group and 40 patients entered the placebo group. Patients in the intervention group received daily Spirulina medicine. The control group received starch-containing capsules as a placebo. Patients were followed up by telephone for 14 days. In these follow-ups, the possible side effects of the drug were measured. In the studied patients, the levels of interleukin 1 and 6, CBC diff, LDH, ESR, CRP were measured on the first and 14th day. After data collection, they were analyzed using SPSS program. Results: The intervention group consisted of 40 patients who were 62% male and 37% female with a mean age of 62.16 79 79.78 years and the placebo group consisted of 40 patients who were 40% male and 60% female with a mean age of 05 / 14 ± 18/51 years. The intervention group complained of cough for an average of 5.45 1. 1.45 days and the control group complained of cough for an average of 2.85 ± 9.5 days, which was significantly lower than P = 0.02 in the intervention group. At the end of the study, a significant difference was observed between the intervention and control groups in terms of blood plasma TNF-α levels P = 0.01. Also, at the end of the study, a significant difference was observed between the intervention and control groups in terms of blood plasma IL-6 protein (P=0.001).