Hen Egg White Bovine Colostrum Supplement Reduces Symptoms of mild/moderate COVID-19: a Randomized Control Trial

Abstract

Aim: The ability of a hen egg white bovine colostrum supplement to prevent severe COVID-19 was tested in a double-blind randomized control study. Methods: Adults with mild/moderate COVID-19, risk factors for severe disease, and within 5 days of symptom onset were assigned to the intervention (n = 77) or placebo (n = 79) arms. Symptoms were documented until day 42 post-enrollment and viral clearance was assessed at 11–13 days post-symptom onset. Results: One participant developed severe COVID-19. The severe-type symptom score was lower in the active arm at 11–13 days post-symptom onset (p = 0.049). Chest pain, fever/chills, joint pain/malaise, and sore throat were significantly less frequent in the active arm. No differences in viral clearance were observed. Conclusion: The intervention reduced symptoms of mild/moderate COVID-19.

Clinical Trial Registration: DOH-27-062021-9191 (South African National Clinical Trials Register)

Plain Language Summary

Natural proteins found in milk (lactoferrin) and egg white (ovotransferrin and lysozyme) could have therapeutic value in COVID-19 through their effects on the immune system. We identified bovine colostrum and hen egg white powders containing adequate quantities of these proteins. We investigated whether short-term daily consumption of a hen egg white and bovine colostrum mixture (reconstituted with glycerin and water) could reduce the risk of progression to severe disease and assist in the recovery of patients with mild or moderate COVID-19. Adults with mild or moderate COVID-19 who were within 5 days of symptom onset and had risk factors for severe disease were enrolled, and randomly assigned to take a hen egg white and bovine colostrum mixture or placebo mixture twice daily for 5 days, and then followed up telephonically for 6 weeks. The main findings were that consumption of the hen egg white and bovine colostrum mixture was associated with fewer protocol-defined severe-type symptoms overall, and in particular lower frequencies of joint pain/malaise, chest pain, fever/chills, and sore throat. Only one individual developed severe COVID-19 and therefore the effect of the intervention on reducing the risk of progression to severe disease could not be assessed. The results of this study suggest that consumption of the hen egg white bovine colostrum mixture within a few days of symptom onset lessens symptoms in people with mild or moderate COVID-19.

Tweetable abstract

Consumption of a hen egg white bovine colostrum mixture within a few days of symptom onset lessened symptoms in people with mild or moderate COVID-19.

Graphical abstract

Keywords:

• colostrum
• coronavirus
• COVID-19
• delta
• egg white
• lactoferrin
• lysozyme
• nutritional supplement
• omicron
• ovotransferrin

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at:www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2217/epi-2016-0184

Author contributions

JK Mann: project conceptualization, design, funding acquisition, supervision, writing – original draft. BI Gosnell: project conceptualization, design, funding acquisition, supervision, clinical oversight, data collection. MYS Moosa: project conceptualization, design, funding acquisition, supervision. T Ndung'u: project conceptualization, design, funding acquisition, supervision. T Reddy: project conceptualization, design, funding acquisition, supervision, statistical analysis, writing – original draft. M van der Stok: design, data curation. A Ngubane: project administration and data collection. T Mulaudzi: data collection. CHL Cairns: design, supervision, clinical oversight, data collection. N Mchunu: statistical analysis. P Nevhungoni: statistical analysis. V Govender: design, supervision. N Manickchund: supervision. P Manickchund: supervision. All authors reviewed the manuscript and approved the final version.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the nursing staff (PG Sithole, N Makhaza, T Ndebele and N Nzimande); S Ngcobo for phoning assistance; M Mashumba for database setup; P Gaza for assistance with study coordination; K Hiramen for assistance with product management; A Bhoola and J Moodley for regulatory support; D Marais for regulatory advice; I Seocharan and C Janse van Rensburg for dashboard setup and reports; data and safety monitoring committee members (J Brijkumar, N Thumbiran and N Yende-Zuma); and N Khuzwayo and staff at King Edward VIII Hospital, as well as MM Mkhize and staff at Cato Manor Clinic, for accommodating the study.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This research was funded by the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) platform at the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) (award no. SARSCoV2-3-20-006). Some staff assisting with the research were funded by the Victor Daitz Foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish, or the preparation of the manuscript. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The protocol was approved by the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (BREC 00002220/2020). In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.

Data sharing statement

The authors certify that this manuscript reports original clinical trial data. Deidentified individual participant data that underlie the results reported in the article are available in Mendeley data (https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/79wzs93pf3/1). It is currently available with no foreseeable end date.