The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted extensive research into therapeutic options, including traditional ayurvedic medicine. This study aims to investigate the safety and efficacy of herbal formulation through in-vitro, in-silico, and clinical trials. Antiviral assay was performed using a plaque assay to evaluate the % virus inhibition. In-silico analysis utilized using AutoDock4.2.6 to assess binding affinities of phytoactives against key SARS-CoV-2 targets (PLpro, RdRp, N-proteins, NSP-1, and Orf6). The first trial was an open-label involving 60 subjects, where 30 received test formulation alongside standard treatment, while other 30 received standard treatment alone. This was followed by double-blind-trial with 60 participants randomly assigned to receive either the test formulation or a placebo along with standard treatment. The in-vitro assay indicated that herbal formulation reduced viral load by 94.51% at 48hpi. In-silico analysis revealed 20 phyto-compounds demonstrated favorable binding energies with target proteins. Clinical trials showed significant reductions in disease progression and symptom alleviation; open-label-trial recorded a recovery rate of 96.7%, while double-blind trial reported a recovery rate of 93.3% within seven days and 100% recovery rate recorded within 10 days in both trial. Notably, the formulation reduced the inflammatory markers and enhanced the immune responses. The herbal formulation showed potent antiviral activity and strong molecular binding with key SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Clinical data demonstrated accelerated recovery and improved immune modulation, highlighting the formulation’s therapeutic potential as a complementary option for COVID-19 management. The herbal formulation demonstrated its potential as an effective adjuvant therapy for COVID-19, supported by comprehensive preclinical, computational and clinical evidence.
Patsute et al. (Wed,) studied this question.