Study confirms Probiotic SLAB51 benefits COVID-19 hypoxic patients

Successful management of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) resulting from COVID-19 infection requires balancing adequate oxygenation and avoiding ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI).

Recently reported data in Biomedicines ⁽¹⁾ revealed that individuals with severe COVID-19 infections who required non-invasive oxygen therapy needed significantly less oxygen when supplemented with the probiotic SLAB51.

Patients with hypoxemic acute respiratory failure, secondary to COVID-19 pneumonia, requiring continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), were either treated with standard of care (n=15) or standard of care plus oral SLAB51 (n=21). The investigators, among many parameters, monitored oxygen levels and platelet counts within the first 24 hours of hospitalization and on days three and seven.

At baseline, patients in the SLAB51-treated group had lower oxygen values than those in the standard of care group. However, on day three, the situation was reversed. By day seven, a significantly lower proportion of patients in the SLAB51 group still needed CPAP compared to the standard treatment group (p ≤0.001). The levels of oxidative stress, measured by malondialdehyde (MDA) in the blood, showed a reduction over time in the treated patients, whereas the opposite happened for the control group.

Significant increases in platelet counts were also seen after three days in the treated group while decreasing in the untreated group. Thrombocytopenia (a low platelet count) is a hallmark of severe COVID-19.

SLAB51 downregulates proinflammatory nitric oxide (NO) production. When nitric oxide increases, there is less available oxygen, which causes hypoxia and oxidative stress.

These results reconfirm the “oxygen sparing effect” of SLAB51 ⁽²⁾.