COVID-19 pandemic threatens patients, societies and healthcare systems around the world. The host immunity determines the progress of the disease and its lethality. The associated cytokine storm mainly affects the lungs; leading to acute lung injury with variable degrees. Modulation of cytokine production using Immunonutrition is a novel concept that has been applied to other diseases. Using specific nutrients such as n3- fatty acids and antioxidant vitamins in extraordinary doses modulate the host immune response and ameliorate the cytokine storm associated with viral diseases such as COVID-19. In this proposal, we will conduct a prospective double-blinded controlled trial for 14 days on 30 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases. The participant will be randomly assigned to two groups (n=20/each); intervention (IG) and placebo (PG) groups. The IG group will be provided with an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant oral supplement (OS) on a daily basis, while the PG will be given an isocaloric placebo. Basal and weekly nutritional screening, as well as recording of anthropometric, clinical and biochemical parameters, will be done. The main biochemical parameters include serum ferritin level, cytokine storm parameters (interleukin-6, Tumor necrosis factor-α, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1), C-reactive protein, total leukocyte count, differential lymphocytic count and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio. It is expected that the anti-inflammatory-antioxidant OS might help in the reduction of the COVID-19 severity with more preservation of the nutritional status of infected cases.
Subjects: A total of 40 participants will be enrolled in this double-blinded prospective, randomized controlled trial. All participants will sign a written consent after details of the study have been fully explained to them. Later on, they will be randomly allocated into two study groups; intervention group (IG, n=20) and placebo group (PG, n=20). Computer-generated random numbers will be used to randomize the participants into one of two intervention groups. The study protocol will be approved by the IRB committee in King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University Medical city. This clinical trial will be registered in the clinicaltrials.gov registry. Settings: All participants will be SARS-CoV-2 positive cases admitted to King Khalid University Hospital. Study protocol: All study participants will be instructed to either consume one capsule of oral supplement enriched in antioxidants vitamins or placebo. The OS will be served in opaque capsules of the same size, shape and color and should be ingested in the morning under the supervision of a nurse. The OS should not be consumed before the time of a meal. The composition of one capsule of the intervention-OS includes: enriched in vitamin A, C, E, Selenium and Zinc. The composition of one capsule of the intervention-supplement includes: 1500 mcg vitamin A (as β-carotene), 250 mg Vitamin C, 90 mg vitamin E, 15 ug Selenium, and 7.5 mg Zinc. The composition of the placebo will have the same weight of cellulose, and zero concentrations of vitamin A, C, E, Selenium and zinc. All participants will be assessed at the start and reassessed again after 1 week and after 14-days period. The assessment will include nutritional screening by Nutritional risk screening 2002 (NRS-2002), Subjective global assessment (SGA), and Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria. Besides anthropometric measures, clinical Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM). also, anthropometric measurements, clinical assessment, and biochemical data will be measured. Statistical analysis: The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 will be used for analysis. The descriptive statistics for continuous variables will be presented as mean ± standard deviation, while other categorical variables as percentages. The independent sample t-test will be used for comparison between the IG and PG groups. For repeated measures at multiple points of time will be tested by Friedman's two-way ANOVA. The Pearson correlation coefficient will be applied to correlate some relevant variables. All these tests were performed with 80% power and a 5% level of significance.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
40
the intervention group will receive a commercially available antioxidant supplement, which will be given to patients with COVID-19 in the morning after breakfast.
The placebo group will receive an oral supplement at the same time in the same shape/size/color.
Prince Mohamed BinAbdulaziz Hospital
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
RECRUITINGChange from baseline score of Nutrition risk screening-2002 (NRS-2002) at end of the trial
Changes in scores of the NRS-2002 for patients with COVID-19 at the end of the study, from 0 to 7 scores, with those scores \< 3 means no risk of malnutrition and \>= 3 means malnutrition.
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline Serum ferritin level at end of the trial
Change in serum ferritin at the end of the trial as ferritin is considered as a COVID-19 fatality predictor.
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline serum Interleukin-6 concentration at end of the trial
Change in IL-6 at the end of the trial as it represent the cytokine storm and it is considered as a COVID-19 fatality predictor
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline serum C-reactive protein concentration at end of the trial
Change in C-reactive protein in the serum at the end of the trial which reflect the acute phase
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline serum Tumor necrosis factor-α concentration at end of the trial
Change in the TNF a in the serum at the end of study as it represent severity of the cytokine storm
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline serum monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) at end of the trial
plasma MCP-1 represent severity of the cytokine storm
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline Weight at end of the trial
Body weight in Kg
Time frame: up to 3 months
Height
stature in cm
Time frame: up to 1 month
Change from baseline BMI at end of the trial
Claculation of BMI according to weight / square Height
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline mid arm circumference at end of the trial
changes of MAC in cm
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline triceps skin-fold thickness at end of the trial
changes of TSF in mm
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline MAMA at end of the trial
). The mid-arm muscle area (MAMA) will be calculated according to the following equation: {MAMA= (MAC - π x TSF)2 / 4π}.
Time frame: Up to 3 months
Change from baseline percentage of peripheral O2 saturation at end of the trial
changes in the percentage of peripheral O2 saturation by an oximeter
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline degree of body temperature at end of the trial
changes in the degree of body temperature by infrared thermometer
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline count the total leukocyte at end of the trial
change in the count from complete blood counts
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline differential lymphocytic count at end of the trial
change in the count from complete blood counts
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline Neutrophil count at end of the trial
change in the count from complete blood counts
Time frame: up to 3 months
Change from baseline neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio at end of the trial
change in the rations calculated by division of the neutrophil count by the lymphocyte count
Time frame: up to 3 months
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