Immunomodulatory Effects of Herbal Formulation Post Covid 19 Vaccination

This chapter aims to evaluate the immunogenicity increase (specific cellular immune responses (CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+) of a herbal formulation in COVID-19-vaccinated subjects who received two doses of Covaxin.

Traditional herbal medicines, which emphasize a holistic, patient-centric view of disease treatment, provide an exciting starting point for discovery of new immunomodulatory drugs. Progress on identification of herbal molecules with proven single agent activity has been slow, in part because of insufficient consideration of pharmacology fundamentals. The trial design was a double-blind&placebo-controlled, randomised, parallel-group proof-of-concept study to evaluate the safety & immunogenicity of a herbal preparation in healthy subjects of Indian origin who have received the COVID-19 vaccination (Covaxin). For independent samples, the t-test helped compare mean biomarker values between two groups, while the paired t-test helped compare marker values in follow-ups. At day 28, the mean (geometric) concentration of IgG antibodies in the test group was substantially greater than in the placebo group (p=0.04). Although the concentration of the marker reduced considerably in the placebo group (p = 0.021), it stayed virtually constant in the test group (p = 0.824). Importance of herbal intervention enhances the immunity (antibodies)following vaccine is a very important finding in this proof-of-concept study. Otherwise in vaccinated person the immunity reduces significantly over a period of time, which necessities booster dose at certain intervals. The present study is a follow-up to the earlier investigation and confirmed our findings in participants who had received two doses of Covaxin. To verify our findings, this obviously has to be studied in a wider population. According to our literature search, this kind of study has not been done before. This investigation found no adverse responses, confirming the safety of the formulation and the herbal vaccination.