Euphorbia neriifolia Leaf Juice on Mild and Moderate COVID-19 Patients: Implications in OMICRON Era

Md Enayet Ali Pramanik; M Morsed Zaman Miah; Istiak Ahmed; Azm Mostaque Hossain; M Nowshad Ali; Md Jawadul Haque; Akm Monoarul Islam; Rukhshana Akhter Jahan; Md Enamul Haque; Md Munzur Rahman; Md Sofikul Islam; Md Mahidul Alam; Prabir Mohan Basak; Ahmed Masiha Jamil; Sk Md Abdullah Al Mamun; Md Rezaul Islam; Md Masudur Rahman; Hnm Shafikuzzaman; Md Ariful Alam Suman; Md Mozammel Hoq Badol; Mosfiqur Rahman; Md Sharif Hasan; Md Nazrul Islam Mondal; Md Mamun Kabir; Mohammad Motiur Rahman; Humayra Haque; Mamun Al Mahtab; Sheikh Mohammad Fazle Akbar

doi:10.5005/jp-journals-10018-1367

Euphorbia neriifolia Leaf Juice on Mild and Moderate COVID-19 Patients: Implications in OMICRON Era

Euroasian J Hepatogastroenterol. 2022 Jan-Jun;12(1):10-18. doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10018-1367.

Authors

Md Enayet Ali Pramanik¹, M Morsed Zaman Miah², Istiak Ahmed³, Azm Mostaque Hossain⁴, M Nowshad Ali⁵, Md Jawadul Haque⁶, Akm Monoarul Islam⁷, Rukhshana Akhter Jahan⁸, Md Enamul Haque⁹, Md Munzur Rahman⁹, Md Sofikul Islam⁹, Md Mahidul Alam¹⁰, Prabir Mohan Basak¹⁰, Ahmed Masiha Jamil¹⁰, Sk Md Abdullah Al Mamun¹⁰, Md Rezaul Islam¹¹, Md Masudur Rahman¹¹, Hnm Shafikuzzaman¹², Md Ariful Alam Suman¹², Md Mozammel Hoq Badol¹³, Mosfiqur Rahman¹⁴, Md Sharif Hasan¹⁵, Md Nazrul Islam Mondal¹⁶, Md Mamun Kabir¹⁷, Mohammad Motiur Rahman¹⁷, Humayra Haque¹⁸, Mamun Al Mahtab¹⁹, Sheikh Mohammad Fazle Akbar²⁰

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China; On-Farm Research Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
² Department of Hematology, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Surgery, Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
⁴ Vice Chancellor, Rajshahi Medical University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
⁵ Department of Pediatric Surgery, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
⁶ Department of Community Medicine, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
⁷ Department of Nephrology, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
⁸ Department of Pathology, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
⁹ Department of Ortho-Surgery, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
¹⁰ Department of Medicine, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
¹¹ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
¹² Department of Surgery, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
¹³ Department of Biochemistry, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
¹⁴ Department of Medicine, Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
¹⁵ Department of Cardiology, Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
¹⁶ Department of Population Science and Human Resource Development, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
¹⁷ Covid Unit, Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
¹⁸ Department of Anaesthesia, Analgesia and Intensive Care Unit, Chattogram Medical College, Chattogram, Bangladesh.
¹⁹ Department of Hepatology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
²⁰ Department of Gastroenterology and Metabology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime, Japan; Miyakawa Memorial Research Foundation, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has shattered the public health delivery system of most of the countries of the world. COVID-19 displays variable clinical presentations. The severe COVID-19 represents a fulminant pathological condition and most of the patients run a downhill course if extensive medical measures are not adopted. The major challenges about COVID-19 are related to develop strategies to manage huge populations of mild and moderate cases of COVID-19 with two realistic purposes: (1) early negativity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus and (2) arrest of progression of moderate COVID-19 patients from developing severe complications. Although several medications have been repurposed for these purposes, none of these have passed the test of time in global perspective. Thus, there remains a pressing need to develop new and novel innovative management strategies for these patients as new variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been destroying the normal public health delivery system of different countries from time to time. The study presented here has checked the safety and efficacy of a herbal medication, leaves of Euphorbia neriifolia Linn (E. neriifolia), in mild and moderate COVID-19 patients. Sixty patients (30 mild COVID-19 and 30 moderate COVID-19) were enrolled in the study. Fifteen mild COVID-19 patients received standard of care (SOC) management, and the remaining 15 patients received SOC plus E. neriifolia. The moderate COVID-19 patients similarly received either SOC (N = 15) or SOC plus E. neriifolia (N = 15). Although there were marked diversity regarding biochemical parameters of these patients at entry, the moderate COVID-19 patients receiving E. neriifolia showed decrease in C-reactive protein and D-dimer and increase in oxygen saturation 7 days after trial commencement. However, these improvements were not detected in moderate COVID-19 patients receiving SOC. Hospital staying was significantly lower in both mild and moderate COVID-19 patients receiving SOC plus E. neriifolia than those receiving only SOC. Taken together, it may be proposed that usage of E. neriifolia may have beneficial effects regarding management for COVID-19 patients, especially for those in developing and resource-constrained countries, although a conclusive statement may not be given due to small sample size. This herbal medication is also pertinent in the context of emergence of OMICRON variant of COVID-19 as the overload of SARS-CoV-2-infecetd patients may be addressed considerably by this medication without hospitalization, if proper communication between patients and physicians can be ensured.

How to cite this article: Pramanik MEA, Miah MMZ, Ahmed I, et al. Euphorbia neriifolia Leaf Juice on Mild and Moderate COVID-19 Patients: Implications in OMICRON Era. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2022;12(1):10-18.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease-2019; Euphorbia neriifolia; Mild and moderate COVID-19; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.