Study Finds Promising Herbal Medicine for COVID-19 Treatment

Clinical data recently showed that capsules called Shufeng Jiedu added to standard antiviral treatment could substantially lessen the clinical recovery time of COVID-19, as well as fatigue and cough, compared to the standard treatment administered alone.

In recently-published research, German and Chinese scientists have proposed that the said capsules, a patented herbal medicine made with eight medicinal plants, might be a potential treatment for COVID-19.

Reports on the data said, the monthly peer-reviewed medical journal, Phytomedicine, published the scientific study online on October 22.

The research team comprises Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center's Xia Lu, who's also affiliated to Fudan University, China Academy of Chines Medical Sciences' Shi Yujing, Shanghai Tech University's Su Jie, and HanseMerkur Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Germany-University Medical Center's Thomas Friedemann.

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(Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
Medical staff, wearing protective gear, move a patient infected with COVID-19 from an ambulance to a hospital on March 09, 2020, in Seoul, South Korea.

The Shufeng Jiedu Capsules

In their study, researchers wrote there is presently no confirmed COVID-19 cure or vaccine. However, the use of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine or TCM to fight COVID-19 gained international attention due to its being regularly used during this global health crisis.

They also said that TCM was successfully used to treat SARS in 2003 and influenza A and H1N1 in 2009. Shufeng Jiedu capsules, which consist of eight medicinal plants, are known for treating various viral respiratory infectious diseases according to their "antiviral, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities" against severe lung injury.

As indicated in this new research, the antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties of the said capsules "were confirmed by the mouse model."

The study investigators elaborated, the reduced inflammatory factors in the lung tissue of mice infected with coronavirus can be explained by the "attenuation of pro-inflammatory pathways" by the capsules' bioactive compounds.

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Clinical Effectiveness Assessed

Network evaluation showed that 11 inflammation and immunomodulation-related pathways were affected by the capsules' bioactive compounds.

Furthermore, the researchers had examined data from a clinical pragmatic, experimental study of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 to evaluate the capsules' clinical effectiveness ad identify the optimum time to initiate treatment.

As mentioned, based on clinical data presented, Shufeng Jiedu capsules, added to regular antiviral treatment, considerably reduced the time of clinical recovery not just for COVID-19, but for fatigue and cough days, as well, compared to the administration of standard antiviral therapy alone.

Essentially, according to the authors, herbal treatment was substantially more efficient when taken within the first eight days following the onset of symptoms of COVID-19.

Promising Evidence

Clinical data offered some potential evidence that Shufeng Jiedu capsules might lessen the symptomatic period of COVID-19 in patients who have mild and moderate symptoms.

Furthermore, the study findings specified that it is helpful to administer the capsules instantaneously once the first symptoms start to occur.

The study authors added, although "a large-scale randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled clinical trial" is essential to validate the impact of this real-world study of the capsules for COVID-19 treatment in patients.

This is not the first neither the only report of TCM for COVID-19 treatment. In mid-October, there were reports showing shares of a TCM firm soared after it was granted a validation from China's top respiratory expert on the TCM's efficacy against COVID-19.

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