The Effects of Arginine-Based Supplements on Fatigue Levels following COVID-19 Infection: A Prospective Study in Romania

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of two arginine-based supplements on the fatigue level of patients following the COVID-19 infection. This is a prospective study of the SARS-CoV-2-infected patients divided into two groups (according to family physicians’ prescriptions, Group 1 of patients were treated with Astenor Energy® containing arginine aspartate, B6 vitamin, biotin and magnesium, and Group 2 of patients were treated with Astenor Forte® containing L-arginine and malic acid). The patients visited their family physicians from October 2021 to January 2022, complaining of physical and/or mental fatigue following the COVID-19 infection. We recorded 505 patients (146 patients in Group 1 and 359 patients in Group 2) and analyzed the fatigue level using the Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) through its total (FAS-T), mental (FAS-M) and physical (FAS-P) scores, at baseline and after three months of treatment. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of age (p = 0.265), but more men were included in Group 1 than in Group 2 (p = 0.001). The patients from Group 2 were significantly more likely to be treated at home than those included in Group 1 (89.7% vs. 65.1%, p p p p < 0.0001). These findings suggest that supplements with L-arginine may be proposed as a remedy to restore physical and mental performance affected by the fatigue burden in people with COVID-19 or following the COVID-19 infection.

Keywords

• fatigue
• COVID-19
• arginine
• persistent symptoms
• post-acute COVID-19 syndrome