Camille Celeste Go , Krunal Pandav , Marcos A. Sanchez-Gonzalez , Gustavo Ferrer
1. Family Medicine, Larkin Hospital Palm Springs Campus, Hialeah, USA
2. Division of Clinical Research and Academic Affairs, Larkin Community Hospital, South Miami, USA
3. Division of Research and Academic Affairs, Larkin Community Hospital, South Miami, USA
4. Pulmonary and Critical Care, Aventura Hospital and Medical Center, Aventura, USA
Corresponding author: Gustavo Ferrer, gferrer@pulmonary institute.com
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 virus has created an unprecedented impact on healthcare globally. Being a novel virus, several treatments have been explored against COVID-19. During the early stages of the disease, treatment is mainly supportive. While several studies have suggested different treatment modalities, there is still no definitive treatment against COVID-19. Re-purposing already established medications, with excellent safety profiles, is a possible approach for treating the disease in its early stage. Having a mode of transmission as a droplet mode, several studies have supported how the nose can contain the primary route of entry of SARS- CoV-2. Hence, we postulated that re-purposing a commercially available nasal spray containing xylitol and grapefruit seed extract (GSE), namely Xlear Nasal Spray® (Xlear, Inc., American Fork, USA) could be used as an adjunct treatment of COVID-19. With a well-established safety profile, the components of this nasal spray have been studied and have been shown to have potential efficacy against viral pathogens, including coronavirus, and may potentially regulate pathways important in the initial entry of infection, replication, and systemic response to SARS-CoV-2. We present a series of three mild-moderate risks, symptomatic, COVID-19 patients, treated with the intranasal combination, as an adjuvant to their ongoing treatment,
with rapid clinical improvement and shorten time to negativization on repeat intranasal swab test via PCR. No safety issues were noted during the course of treatment. Xlear nasal spray, containing xylitol plus GSE,
given its established safety profile and compelling clinical results described here, could be a potential adjunct treatment option in mild-moderate COVID-19 cases.
Keywords
Categories: Otolaryngology, Infectious Disease, Pulmonology
Keywords: grapefruit seed extract, xylitol, covid-19, sars-cov-2, intranasal, therapeutics
