An oral formula of vanillin and wheat germ oil for treatment of mild and moderate COVID-19 viral disease: a randomized controlled trial

The world has been suffering from the consequences of COVID-19. Our study aimed to determine the efficacy of 5-day treatment course of wheat germ oil-vanillin mix for outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms.Positive COVID-19 patients presented with symptoms within 7 days, were randomized into control and treatment arms. The treatment arm received the capsule and standard-of-care therapy (SOC) while the control arm received SOC only. All patients were followed up for 30 days. Symptoms were assessed based on the FDA-assessment of COVID-19 symptoms. The scoring system was used to assess the severity of symptoms. Blood samples were obtained for CBC and CRP analysis. A total of 61 patients were enrolled in the study. Patients in the treatment arm showed a significant improvement in disease severity when compared to the control arm (68.32% vs 30% reduction in symptoms at day 3, p<0.001). Time for recovery was significantly shorter in patients receiving treatment (p<0.001). No significant side effects were reported in either arm.The herbal mix showed potential activity against COVID-19 and further assessment is recommended as a safe and affordable add-on therapy for inflammatory conditions.The protocol was approved by the ethics committee of Alexandria University, protocol-ID:0106922. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov.ID (NCT05157139).