The Effects of Zingiber Officinale and Propolis supplementation on Hospitalized Covid-19 Patients' Oxygen Saturation

Antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and supportive therapy are required in the Covid-19 management, whilst there is no available specific antiviral for Covid-19 patients. Zingiber officinale and Propolis were reported to suppress the pro-inflammatory cytokines and their safety profiles were considered in several toxicity studies. However, their efficacy in hospitalized Covid-19 patients has not been clarified yet. This study explored the activity of Z. officinale and Propolis in modulating the clinical signs and hematology parameters in hospitalized Covid-19 patients. A total of 22 subjects were divided into a control group (standard therapy), and a treatment group (standard therapy and supplemented with the combination of Z. officinale 500 mg/day and Propolis 1000 mg/day). We analyzed the differences in demographic characteristics, clinical signs, and hematology parameters at pre and post-treatment in both groups. The increased oxygen saturation in control and treatment groups were 0.45 ± 0.45 and 3.45 ± 1.16, respectively (p = 0.011). Moreover, the high-fluorescent lymphocyte count (HFLC) and mean platelet volume (MPV) in the treatment group tend to be lower compared to the control, although it is not statistically significant. The supplementation of Z. officinale and Propolis has beneficial effects in alleviating clinical signs of Covid-19 disease, especially in the enhancement of oxygen saturation, and tend to restore the hematological parameters.