Physicians from Kochi's Amrita Hospital and scientists from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham's School of Biotechnology worked on the research. In a feasibility study done at Amrita Hospital, Covid-19 patients who got iNO therapy recovered quicker, with fewer problems and no fatality rates, than those who received normal Covid treatment without iNO.

Bipin Nair, Dean, Life Sciences at Amrita School of Biotechnology, explained that their involvement in looking into Nitric Oxide as a treatment option for Covid-19 stemmed from an early study conducted by a Swedish group, which suggested that the gas could be useful in combating the SARS-CoV-2 virus because it induces biochemical changes that directly affect the virus's spike protein.

"This protein is the key culprit in causing havoc on our body's receptors and immune system," Nair explained. Amrita Hospital's team of specialists chose to perform this experiment on a small group of Covid patients who were admitted to the hospital.

Out of the 25 patients chosen for the trial, 14 received iNO in addition to regular Covid-19 medication, whereas 11 received standard treatment alone. The viral load of patients treated with iNO was drastically decreased. This method of repurposing Nitric Oxide has the potential to be a useful prophylactic, especially given the extremely contagious nature of the current Omicron version.

As the global hunt for a viable therapy for Covid continues, Geetha Kumar of the Amrita School of Biotechnology believes that this technique of using Nitric Oxide as a therapeutic tool has the potential to be a successful, quick, and affordable game changer in the battle against the pandemic.

"It's possible that healthcare personnel who are continuously exposed to the Coronavirus may utilise this as a preventative while treating sick patients," Kumar added. In hypoxemic Covid-19 patients, the Amrita Hospital trial effectively demonstrated the possible function of repurposed breathed Nitric Oxide. To take this treatment procedure to the next level, the study's expert panel now proposes an extended validation.

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