Coronavirus: AYUSH Ministry approves study to test impact of Vasa, Guduchi on management of COVID-19

Alternative treatment for COVID-19: Centre to conduct studies for coronavirus treatment! The Union Ministry of AYUSH has decided to conduct studies to look for alternative treatments for coronavirus, in order to accelerate the process of finding a cure to the disease that has caused a global pandemic. In an official statement, the ministry said that to this effect, it has approved the proposal for a clinical study for the assessment of the role played by Vasa Ghana, Guduchi Ghana and Vasa-Guduchi Ghana in the therapeutic management of COVID-19 positive cases symptoms. The study would be conducted through randomised, open label three armed method by the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) along with CSIR-IGIB.

The statement said that the detailed proposal for the research, including the methodology, outcome measures, logistics as well as parameters for clinic and laboratory, has been prepared. A unique Case Report Forum (CRF) would be used for the study as it would be suitable for the research in Ayush mode. The statement added that the study protocol as well as the CRF have undergone peer review by domain experts in different fields, including those in modern medicine, and stated that the suggestions put forth by the experts were also incorporated. The study would be conducted once it attains the required approvals from the competent authorities, including an approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC).

Giving details, the ministry said in the statement that the study would look at specific considerations:

• The study would check the efficacy or action of mono-herbal formulations of whole extracts of Guduchi and Vasa, as well as the polyherbal formulation of Vasa-Guduchi whole extract on the therapeutic management of positive asymptomatic and/or mild symptomatic cases of the novel coronavirus. Apart from that, the impact of these formulations on the viral replication speed.
• Moreover, these formulations would also be tested to assess whether they could alter the expression profiles of important biomarkers linked to COVID-19 infection.

The ministry said that both Vasa and Guduchi are time-tested herbs in the healthcare tradition of India and are used in various disease conditions. Therefore, the study’s outcome would be important to the entire AYUSH industry.