Effectiveness of Probiotics for Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Effectiveness of Probiotics for Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Hadeer Abdel-Aleem Hassan Mohamed Tawfik (1), Mohamed Nazmy Farres (2), Rasha Samir (2,3), Mohamed Nabil Badawy Al Ashram (2), Mina Michael Nesim (2), Mohamed Farouk Allam (1*)

 

(1) Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt

(2) Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt

(3) Departemnt of Internal Medicine, Armed Forces College of Medicine, Egypt

 

Universal Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2023;1(1):17–25.

 

DOI: 10.31586/ujgh.2023.735

 

Abstract

 

Background: Recently specific interactions and crosslinks between the gut microbiota and the lungs have been recognized, particularly with regard to respiratory immune and anti-microbial reactions. This is often known as the “gut-lung axis” or “a common mucosal immunological system”. Objective: The aim of the current systematic review was to evaluate evidence, from published clinical trials and cohort studies, if probiotics may have an effect in improving and managing COVID-19 symptoms. Materials and methods: The available studies were searched through a comprehensive search of electronic databases that included PubMed, Science Direct, Scirus, ISI Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar and CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials), using a combination of the following keywords: “COVID-19 OR SARS-CoV-2 AND Microbiota OR Probiotics” OR “Gut Lung Axis”. The literature was reviewed until August 31, 2022. Results: Only 3 studies were included. One of them evaluated the efficacy of probiotics in COVID-19 patients to obtain complete remission of all signs and symptoms. The clinical trial proves that probiotics have a significant effect on complete remission of all signs and symptoms of COVID-19 patients with statistical significant difference. Only one clinical trial out of the 3 included studies had evaluated the need for O2 therapy during the study between the probiotics and control groups, but without statistical significant difference. No statistical significant difference between the probiotics group and placebo group was observed regarding fatal prognosis during the only clinical trial that measured death as an outcome. Conclusion: We couldn’t judge on these results as they are insufficient data for pooling and meta-analysis. However, what we can say is “Most probably Probiotics have no role in treatment of COVID-19 infection”.

 

Keywords: COVID-19, Probiotics, Management, Meta-analysis, Systematic Review.

 

Universal Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2023;1(1):17–25.

 

https://www.scipublications.com/journal/index.php/UJGH/article/view/735