Metabolic activators accelerates COVID-19 recovery
An international team of scientists, led by SciLifeLab researchers Adil Mardinoglu (KTH) and Mathias Uhlén (KTH), have demonstrated that metabolic activators can reduce the recovery time in patients with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 by up to 3.5 days. They also discovered that the treatment improved liver health and decreased the levels of inflammation, as shown by inflammatory markers.
The phase three clinical study, published in Advanced Science, was a collaboration between SciLifeLab, KTH, Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg and King’s College, London. Patients with mild-to-moderate Covid-19, who also received standard care, recovered 3,5 days faster when treated with a combination of metabolic activators, nicotinamide riboside (NR), L-serine, N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), and L-carnitine tartrate. All four with the purpose of improving mitochondrial function.
309 outpatients at the Umraniye Teaching and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey were randomly assigned on a 3:1 basis to receive the metabolic activators or placebo. The patients received the activators or placebo twice a day for 14 days and their clinical status was evaluated through daily telephone check-ins.
“Our phase three data shows that metabolic activators significantly improve the recovery, liver health, and markers of inflammation of patients with COVID-19. Dysfunctional mitochondria have been implicated in worsened progression for Covid-19, and we are pleased to find that the combination of these metabolic activators helps to remedy the stress put on the body of an infected patient” says the study’s lead author and SciLifeLab Fellow, Adil Mardinoglu (KTH/Kings College), in a press release from KTH.
The study was conducted in partnership with Stockholm-based ScandiBio Therapeutics AB and California-based ChromaDex (NASDAQ:CDXC), which provided one of the four ingredients (nicotinamide riboside) through the ChromaDex External Research Program (CERP). Together with the strategic partner Viscoran (Turkey), a submission for drug approval has been submitted to the Ministry of Health in Turkey.
