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N-acetylcysteine as adjuvant therapy for hospitalized Covid-19 patients: A single-center prospective cohort study
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Siamak Afaghi *  , Negin Moghimi , Nasser Malekpour Alamdari , Fatemeh Sadat Rahimi , Rana Irilouzadian , Farzad Esmaeili Tarki , Morvarid Moghimi , Sara Beshaarat , Hossein Salehi Omran , Anita Karimi |
| Research Institute of Internal Medicine, Shahid Modarres Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , siamak.afaghi@sbmu.ac.ir |
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Abstract: (578 Views) |
Background: Whilst over two years have passed since the COVID-19 pandemic's emergence, the proper management of the disease remains challenging. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as a potentially effective therapeutic option has been suggested by studies, while the exact clinical role of this agent is yet to be evaluated.
Methods: This prospective case-control study was conducted in a major referral respiratory center in Tehran, Iran. We enrolled 217 patients treated with an intravenous daily dose of 1500 mg NAC as a case group; and 245 control patients who did not receive NAC. Two groups were matched based on other treatments, socio-demographics, medical history, and comorbidities.
Results: After ten days of adjuvant therapy with NAC, patients in the NAC group and control group had median room-air SpO2 of 91% and 88%, respectively (P=0.02). Also, the SpO2 to FiO2 ratio had a median of 463 and 421 in the case and control groups, respectively (P=0.01). Furthermore, the case group's hospitalization period was three days shorter (P=0.002). Further, cough, dyspnea, and decreased appetite were reported to have a significantly lower incidence in the case group (P=0.03, 0.001, 0.008).
Conclusion: We showed that a daily intravenous dose of NAC in hospitalized COVID-19 patients could shorten the hospital stay and improve some clinical symptoms; however, it does not remarkably improve the risk of ICU admission and the 28 days in-hospital mortality rate.
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| Keywords: N-acetylcysteine, antioxidant, SARS-Cov-2, COVID-19, mortality |
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Full-Text [PDF 287 kb]
(404 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Original Article |
Subject:
Internal
Received: 2022/02/24 | Accepted: 2022/10/29 | Published: 2023/05/9
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