Journal Article

Standardized Brazilian green propolis extract (EPP-AF®) in COVID-19 outcomes: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial

Teixeira, Maurício Brito, Passos, Rogério da Hora, Menezes, Matheus de Alencar, Berretta, Andresa Aparecida, Souza, Bruno Solano de Freitas, Bahiense, Bruno Andrade, da Guarda, Suzete Farias, Gomes, Marcel Miranda Dantas, Nonaka, Carolina Kymie Vasques, Teles, Flávio, Silveira, Marcelo Augusto Duarte, De Oliveira, Cicero Wandson Luiz Macedo, Baptista, Nathália Ursoli, Leite, Flávia Mendes, Caldas, Juliana, Mendes, Ana Verena Almeida, Cabral, Julia Barros, Alves, Milena Souza, de Souza, Sergio Pinto, Galvão, Erica Batista dos Santos, Damiani, Lucas Petri, Pinheiro, Priscila Carvalho Guedes, de Melo, Rodrigo Morel Vieira, Mascarenhas, Talita Rocha

2023

Overview

SARS-CoV-2 and its different variants caused a “wave and wave” pandemic pattern. During the first wave we demonstrated that standardized Brazilian green propolis extract (EPP-AF®) reduces length of hospital stay in adult patients with COVID-19. Afterwards, we decided to evaluate the impact of EPP-AF in hospitalized patients during the third wave of the pandemic. BeeCovid2 was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in hospitalized COVID-19 adult patients. Patients were allocated to receive an oral dose of 900 mg/day of EPP-AF® or placebo for 10 days. The primary outcome was length of hospital stay. Secondary outcomes included safety, secondary infection rate, duration of oxygen therapy dependency, acute kidney injury and need for intensive care. Patients were followed up for 28 days after admission. We enrolled 188 patients; 98 were assigned to the propolis group and 90 to the placebo group. The post-intervention length of hospital stay was of 6.5 ± 6.0 days in the propolis group versus 7.7 ± 7.1 days in the control group (95% CI − 0.74 [− 1.94 to 0.42]; p  = 0.22). Propolis did not have significant impact on the need for oxygen supplementation or frequency of AKI. There was a significant difference in the incidence of secondary infection between groups, with 6.1% in the propolis group versus 18.9% in the control group (95% CI − 0.28 [0.1–0.76], p  = 0.01). The use of EPP-AF was considered safe and associated with a decrease in secondary infections. The drug was not associated with a significant reduction in length of hospital stay. ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04800224).

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Nature Portfolio
• Subject: 631/326 / 692/699 / Clinical trials / COVID-19 / Double-blind studies / Humanities and Social Sciences / Length of stay / multidisciplinary / Pandemics / Patients / Placebos / Propolis / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Secondary infection / Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2