The role of probiotics in coronavirus disease-19 infection in Wuhan: A retrospective study of 311 severe patients

PURPOSE: Researches revealed that probiotics maybe a potential strategy for COVID-19, whereas there is a lack of related evidence. This study aims to analyze the role of probiotics on severe COVID-19 patients. METHODS: In the current retrospective single-center study, we collected data of 311 consecutive severe patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Wuhan Union Hospital from Feb 3rd to Feb 20th, 2020. Epidemiological, clinical and medication characteristics were compared and analyzed between patients with or without probiotics. RESULTS: In total, 93 of the 123 patients (75.61%) who were treated with probiotics survived to hospital discharge with the median inpatient day of 32 days and mean virus clearance time of 23 days, which were significantly longer than those of patients without probiotics. There were no bias in laboratory parameters, except for IL-6 and ESR, which were significantly higher in patients treated probiotics. We tracked the dynamic changes of 8 selected laboratory parameters (IL-6, CRP, total T lymphocytes, NK cells, B lymphocyte, CD4 + T cells, CD8 + T cells and CD4/CD8 ratio) and found that probiotics could not reduce the increased IL-6 levels but possessed the ability to moderate the immunity and decreased the incidence of secondary infection in COVID-19 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Probiotics could be an effective strategy for the treatment of COVID-19 patients to reduce the secondary infection and moderated the immunity.