Oral nano‐curcumin formulation efficacy in management of mild to moderate hospitalized coronavirus disease‐19 patients: An open label nonrandomized clinical trial

Abstract

Curcumin is proposed as a potential treatment option for coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) by inhibiting the virus entrance, encapsulation and replication, and modulating various cellular signaling pathways. In this open-label nonrandomized clinical trial, efficacy of nano-curcumin oral formulation has been evaluated in hospitalized patients with mild-moderate COVID-19. Forty-one patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were allocated to nano-curcumin (n = 21) group (Sinacurcumin soft gel, contains 40 mg curcuminoids as nanomicelles, two capsules twice a day) or control (n = 20) group, for 2 weeks. Patients' symptoms and laboratory data were assessed at baseline and during follow-up period. Most of symptoms including fever and chills, tachypnea, myalgia, and cough resolved significantly faster in curcumin group. Moreover, SaO 2 was significantly higher in treatment group after 2, 4, 7, and 14 days of follow-up and lymphocyte count after 7 and 14 days. Duration of supplemental O 2 use and hospitalization was also meaningfully shorter in treatment group. It is also noteworthy to mention that no patient in treatment group experienced deterioration of infection during follow-up period, but it occurred in 40% of control group. Oral curcumin nano-formulation can significantly improve recovery time in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Further randomized placebo controlled trials with larger sample size are recommended.

Oral nano‐curcumin formulation efficacy in the management of mild to moderate outpatient COVID‐19: A randomized triple‐blind placebo‐controlled clinical trial

“…Moreover, SaO2 and lymphocytes count were meaningfully higher after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment with nanocurcumin, and duration of hospitalization was shorter. (SaberMoghaddam et al., 2021 ).…”

“…It is also noteworthy to mention that no patient in treatment group experienced deterioration of infection during follow-up period but it occurred in 40% of control group. (SaberMoghaddam et al, 2021 Besides, curcumin safety has been proven in several clinical trials.…”

Curcumin Extraction, Isolation, Quantification and Its Application in Functional Foods: A Review With a Focus on Immune Enhancement Activities and COVID-19

“…A schematic diagram with the possible mechanisms of curcumin action in COVID-19 has been shown in Figure 5 . While it is difficult to confirm the optimal dosage of curcumin in COVID-19 (owing to the paucity of data available), it is important to note that curcumin supplementation is considered relatively safe ( 3 , 4 , 10 , 15 , 16 , 110 , 111 , 115 , 116 ) and well-tolerated even at high doses up to 8 g/day as shown in different clinical trials ( 118 ). Generally, curcumin doses in the range of 0.5–1.5 g/day are seen to be helpful in clinical improvement in conditions like inflammatory conditions, and hence such a dose may be explored in COVID-19 as well ( 118 ).…”

“…The detailed approach has been shown in Figure 7 . In an open-label non-randomized clinical trial, Saber-Moghaddam et al ( 110 ) revealed that oral nano-curcumin formulation was efficient in managing coronavirus infection in patients. It was observed that major symptoms including cough, fever and chills, tachypnea, and myalgia resolved significantly faster in the curcumin group.…”

Effect of the Carrier on the Coprecipitation of Curcumin through Supercritical-Assisted Atomization

“…Increases in bioavailability and in the consequent therapeutic efficiency have been achieved considering CUR-loaded nanocarriers [7]. Indeed, it has been observed by Saber-Moghaddam et al that when CUR oral nano-formulations are administered to hospitalized patients with mild-moderate COVID-19, patients' recovery time is significantly improved [8]. CUR has been charged through different techniques into various carriers, such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) [9], polylactic acid (PLA) [10], polycaprolactone (PCL) [11], and chitosan [12], obtaining different formulations and different dissolution profiles.…”