Comparative clinical trial of Langenlianqiao oral liquid and Lianhuaqingwen capsule in the treatment of mild cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Langenlianqiao (LGLQ) oral liquid treatment and provide a reference basis for the clincal treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Design: An experimental clinical study was conducted on three groups with confirmed diagnoses of COVID-19. SITE: This study was conducted at Changde Hospital.

Participants: A total of 253 patients were enrolled in this study.

Methods: The patients were divided into the LGLQ treatment group (100 cases), the Lianhuaqingwen (LHQW) treatment group (100 cases) and the placebo control group (53 cases), according to the treatment each group received. The occurrence of major clinical symptoms, the duration of symptom disappearance, the number of days in hospitalisation and the duration of infection were compared among the three groups.

Results: Compared with the placebo control group (10.0 [1.2] d, 9.4 [1.3] d), the duration of infection and hospitalisation effectively decreased in the LGLQ group (6.8 [0.6] d, 7.4 [0.8] d) and the LHQW group (6.8 [1.0] d, 7.3 [1.0] d). Furthermore, the incidence of fatigue in the LGLQ group (4.0%) was lower compared to the LHQW group (14.0%) and the placebo control group (15.1%), but this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.580 for LGLQ vs. LHQW, P = 0.246 for LGLQ vs. placebo). In the treatment of cough, the LGLQ group showed a significantly different effect compared to both the LHQW group (P = 0.014) and the placebo group (P = 0.016). Additionally, for dry cough specifically, LHQW was effective in reducing its incidence compared to the placebo control group (P < 0.05), while LGLQ showed no statistically significant difference from either LHQW (P = 0.39) or the placebo group (P = 0.14). However, neither the LGLQ group nor the LHQW group showed a reduction in the duration of symptom disappearance in patients with pre-existing symptoms (P > 0.05).

Conclusions: Compared with the placebo control group, the LGLQ group showed an improvement in the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 and a decrease in the duration of hospitalisation and infection, which confirmed that the LGLQ treatment had the same antiviral effect as the LHQW treatment. This may provide in-depth insights for antiviral therapy research.