Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May 30:15:1383359.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1383359. eCollection 2024.

The efficacy of herbal medicines on the length of stay and negative conversion time/rate outcomes in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review

Affiliations

The efficacy of herbal medicines on the length of stay and negative conversion time/rate outcomes in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review

Irma Rahayu Latarissa et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Introduction: In recent years, diverse initiatives have been carried out to control the COVID-19 pandemic, ranging from measures restricting social activities to analyzing drugs and vaccines. Studies on herbal medicines are also increasingly conducted in various countries as an adjuvant therapy or supplement. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to investigate the efficacy of herbal medicines analyzed from various countries through clinical trials with the randomized controlled trial method. The outcomes of Length of Stay (LOS), Negative Conversion Time (NCT), and Negative Conversion Rate (NCR) were the main focus.

Methods: An extensive review of literature spanning from 2019 to 2023 was carried out using well-known databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane. The search included relevant keywords such as "randomized controlled trial," "COVID-19," and "herbal medicine."

Results: A total of 8 articles were part of the inclusion criteria with outcomes of LOS, NCT, and NCR. In terms of LOS outcomes, all types of herbal medicines showed significant results, such as Persian Medicine Herbal (PM Herbal), Persian Barley Water (PBW), Jingyin Granules (JY granules), Reduning Injection, and Phyllanthus emblica (Amla). However, only JY granules showed significant results in NCR outcome, while JY granules and Reduning Injection showed significant results in reducing NCT.

Conclusion: These findings enrich our understanding of the potential benefits of herbal medicines in influencing LOS, NCR and NCT parameters in COVID-19 patients. Herbal medicines worked to treat COVID-19 through antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory mechanisms.

Keywords: antiinflammatory; antiviral; clinical trial; herbal medicines; immunomodulatory; randomized controlled trial.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
PRISMA flowchart: the study selection.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Efficacy of herbal medicines on LOS outcomes.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Efficacy of herbal medicines on NCR outcomes.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Efficacy of herbal medicines on NCT outcomes.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
The mechanism of herbal medicines for COVID-19.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Al-Hajeri H., Baroun F., Abutiban F., Al-Mutairi M., Ali Y., Alawadhi A., et al. (2022). Therapeutic role of immunomodulators during the COVID-19 pandemic-a narrative review. Postgrad. Med. 134, 160–179. 10.1080/00325481.2022.2033563 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alimohamadi Y., Yekta E. M., Sepandi M., Sharafoddin M., Arshadi M., Hesari E. (2022). Hospital length of stay for COVID-19 patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Multidiscip. Respir. Med. 17, 856. 10.4081/MRM.2022.856 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-kuraishy H. M., Al-Fakhrany O. M., Elekhnawy E., Al-Gareeb A. I., Alorabi M., De Waard M., et al. (2022). Traditional herbs against COVID-19: back to old weapons to combat the new pandemic. Eur. J. Med. Res. 27, 186–211. 10.1186/s40001-022-00818-5 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Amini S. Z., Shakeri N., Amini S. M., Mokaberinejad R., Hasheminasab F. S., Azimi M., et al. (2022). Evaluating the effect of a natural formulation based on hordeum vulgare on the recovery of COVID-19 patients: application of survival analysis in a clinical trial. Ann. Mil. Health Sci. Res. 20, 1–5. 10.5812/AMH-128009 - DOI
    1. Ang L., Song E., Zhang J., Lee H. W., Lee M. S. (2022). Herbal medicine for COVID-19: an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Phytomedicine 102, 154136–154139. 10.1016/J.PHYMED.2022.154136 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources