Bifidobacteria and prebiotics helped with symptoms of long term covidae

A clinical study showed that daily administration of a synbiotic (a preparation containing pro- and prebiotics) of three species of bifidobacteria and several oligosaccharides reduced fatigue, alleviated symptoms of memory and concentration disorders, as well as gastrointestinal disorders and general malaise. And, as reported in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the incidence of adverse events was not different between the study and control groups.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of post-coital syndrome (long-Qoid) is approximately 10 to 30 percent, and at least 65 million people worldwide suffer from the condition. Patients typically complain of increased fatigue, irritability, and disorders of the respiratory system and gastrointestinal tract. Although several hypotheses have been put forward regarding the pathogenesis of the syndrome, there is still no effective treatment.

It has been hypothesized that the severity of post-coital syndrome may depend on the state of the gut microbiota. In particular, the intestinal microbiome of such patients was characterized by reduced microbial diversity and fewer bacteria producing short-chain fatty acids.

So a team of scientists led by Siew Ng from the Chinese University of Hong Kong decided to test how a preparation with three species of bifidobacteria - B. adolescentis, B. bifidum and B. longum - and three prebiotic supplements - galacto-oligosaccharides, xylo-oligosaccharides and dextrin - could help people with symptoms of long-covidae. To do this, researchers conducted a clinical trial involving 463 people - 232 in the synbiotic group and 231 in the placebo group. The average time from coronavirus infection to inclusion in the trial was four months. Patients took the synbiotic twice daily at a daily rate of 20 billion colony-forming units per day.

After six months, patients in the study group showed significant improvements in symptoms of fatigue (p = 0.0001), memory (p = 0.0024) and concentration (p < 0.0001), and gastrointestinal (p = 0.0014) and general malaise (p = 0.0008) compared to the placebo group after adjusting for various covariates. The relative benefit of synbiotic was 47 percent for fatigue, 56 percent for memory impairment, 62 percent for concentration difficulties, 30 percent for gastrointestinal disorders, and 31 percent for general malaise.

In addition, more patients in the study group experienced relief from joint pain, shortness of breath, insomnia, muscle pain, cough, hair loss, chest pain and mood disturbances, but these results were not significant after adjustment. According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, synbiotic drug treatment, omicron variant infection, vaccination, and mild covidae were independent predictors of decreased intensity of long-standing covidae symptoms. Metagenomic analysis of fecal samples showed an increase in bacterial diversity (p = 0.0019) and observed number of species (p = 0.051) in the treatment group after six months compared to baseline. At the same time, the drug did not cause significant side effects.

Potentially, such a synbiotic could be a truly effective treatment for post-coital syndrome. Additional (larger) clinical trials are needed to bring it into widespread use, after which the drug could be added to clinical guidelines.

This drug may be relevant for many people around the world, especially for those who have experienced severe covida. After all, as scientists from four countries have found that a more severe course of the disease is associated with more severe symptoms of long-standing covid, even two years after the disease.