There's not a lot of money to be made in studying dietary supplements, and my hat is off to the physicians and scientists who conducted the first randomized, double-blinded prospective trial of ARG in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Italy (with collaboration from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine). Near as I can gather, they received no funding for their efforts, which are groundbreaking and deserving of international recognition and gratitude.


Let's start with the exciting stuff: the trial showed a statistically significant difference in secondary endpoint comprising hospital length of stay (LOS). Median LOS was 25 days in the ARG group compared to 46 days in the placebo group (P<0.0001). The primary endpoint was designed as reduction of respiratory support, which was also statistically significantly improved among the ARG group at day 10 (with an odds ratio of 6.6, P=0.01), but lost significance at day 20. Having said that, the authors note that this apparent attrition of benefit may actually reveal attrition of illness: a very large number of the ARG group had already healed/been discharged, enriching the proportion of the sickest in that arm.


https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00405-3/fulltext

https://www.ruetir.com/2021/10/07/covid-19-l-arginine-reduces-hospitalizations-and-respiratory-support/

https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/94930