A case series report on successful management of patients with COVID-19-associated lymphopenia and potential application of PG2

BackgroundLymphopenia and the resultant high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are hallmark signs of severe COVID-19, and effective treatment remains unavailable. We retrospectively reviewed the outcomes of COVID-19 in a cohort of 26 patients admitted to Chung Shan Medical University Hospital (Ta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in medicine 2022-11, Vol.9
Main Authors: Wang, Wei-Yao, Lee, Yuan-Ti, Wang, Yao-Tung, Chen, Ji-Zhen, Lee, Su-Yin, Tsao, Shih-Ming
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astragalus polysaccharides
COVID-19
lymphopenia
Medicine
neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio
PG2
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Summary:BackgroundLymphopenia and the resultant high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are hallmark signs of severe COVID-19, and effective treatment remains unavailable. We retrospectively reviewed the outcomes of COVID-19 in a cohort of 26 patients admitted to Chung Shan Medical University Hospital (Taichung City, Taiwan). Twenty-five of the 26 patients recovered, including 9 patients with mild/moderate illness and 16 patients with severe/critical illness recovered. One patient died after refusing treatment.Case presentationWe report the cases of four patients with high NLRs and marked lymphopenia, despite receiving standard care. A novel injectable botanical drug, PG2, containing Astragalus polysaccharides, was administered to them as an immune modulator. The decrease in the NLR in these four patients was faster than that of other patients in the cohort (0.80 vs. 0.34 per day).ConclusionAll patients recovered from severe COVID-19 showed decreased NLR and normalized lymphocyte counts before discharge. Administration of PG2 may be of benefit to patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 and lymphopenia.
ISSN:2296-858X
2296-858X
DOI:10.3389/fmed.2022.1009557