Effect of liushen capsules (pill) on antiviral activity of COVID-19 in vitro and in patients with positive nucleic acid for more than 14 days

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the efficacy and safety Liushen Capsules(Pill,LSP) combined with basic therapy on patients with coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) and positive nucleic acid for more than 14 days, and to test the in vitro antiviral effect of LSP. Methods To test the in vitro antiviral effect against the omicron(B.1.1.529) variant, its half-maximal inhibitory concentration(IC50) was determined by cytopathic effect test. The protocol was registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry(No. ChiCTR2200057532). Totally 50 patients who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARSCoV-2), who were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, were randomly divided into experimental group(26 cases) and control group(24 cases). The control group was given a basic treatment, and the experimental group was given LSP in conjunction with the basis treatment. The average negative time, negative conversion rate, immunological indices(IgG,IgM), and adverse events during treatment were compared between the two groups. Results The IC50 of LSP against SARS-CoV-2(omicron strain)was 0.194 8 g/mL. The average negative time of the virus in the experimental group [(5.03+or-2.41)d] was significantly lower than that in the control group [(6.46 +or-2.32)d,P<0.05]. After five days treatment, the negative conversion rate of the experimental group [57.36%(15/26)] was significantly lower than that of the control group [57.36%(15/26),P<0.05]. During the treatment, the negative conversion rate of the experimental group was always higher than that of the control group(P< 0.05). There was no significant difference in adverse reactions between the two groups(P>0.05). Conclusions LSP have an antiviral effect on SARS-CoV-2 in vitro, combined with basic therapy has certain curative effects on patients with positive nucleic acid for more than 14 days, and it can significantly shorten the negative conversion time of nucleic acid and negative rate, and improve the immune function of patients.