The Effect of Barley Aqueous Extract on Clinical Signs of COVID-19:  An Open-Labeled Randomized Clinical Trial

Mohammad Sadegh  Adel-Mehraban; Hanieh  Babaei; Hanieh  Tahermohammadi; Nezhat  Shakeri; Mohsen  Hajihoseini; Shahpar  Kaveh; Mojgan  Tansaz; Akram  Izadikhah

doi:10.18502/tim.v10i4.20723

Mohammad Sadegh Adel-Mehraban Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hanieh Babaei Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hanieh Tahermohammadi Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Nezhat Shakeri Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mohsen Hajihoseini Students Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran
Shahpar Kaveh Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mojgan Tansaz Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Akram Izadikhah Department of Persian Medicine, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/tim.v10i4.20723

Keywords: Covid-19; Persian medicine; Phytotherapy; Medicinal Plants; Hordeum

Abstract

Coronavirus has spread around the world with high prevalence rate and severe manifestations since 2019 (COVID-19) and imposed global economic, social, and health burden. Many studies were conducted to manage the complications of COVID-19 and to reduce the hospital stay but results were not satisfactory. Hence, according to the high potential of medicinal plants in management of diseases, we aimed to investigate the effects of barley aqueous extract (BAE) on clinical and laboratory features of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients. This study was an open-labeled, randomized, controlled clinical trial performed on 80 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in COVID-19 medical center, Isfahan, Iran, from July to August 2021. All patients received a same standard treatment according to the protocol of the Iranian Ministry of Health and BAE was added to the treatment of intervention group. Patients received BAE 200 mL every 4 hours for 5 days. Seventy-two patients completed the study and no significant differences were reported in the baseline data between groups. Results showed significant improvement of shortness of breath (p=0.012) and cough (p=0.09) after receiving BAE, compared to the control group. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between groups considering body temperature, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, muscle pain, and laboratory factors. No serious adverse effect was reported. This study suggests that BAE may serve as a safe complementary treatment for alleviating symptoms of COVID-19; however, more clinical trials with higher sample size are needed.