Interventions for the treatment of persistent post-COVID-19 olfactory dysfunction
ReviewHumansWith luteolin (in the included trial)
This study tested palmitoylethanolamide together with luteolin (in the included trial). Its results cannot be assigned to palmitoylethanolamide alone. More combination studies.
- Design
- Review
- Subjects
- Two RCTs with 30 participants in total; the PEA-luteolin trial had 12 participants with anosmia or hyposmia for at least 90 days after COVID-19
- Dose used in the study
- Palmitoylethanolamide plus luteolin for 30 days, versus no intervention; amount not stated in the abstract
- Duration
- 30 days, with olfactory testing at 30 days
- What was measured
- Recovery of sense of smell, disease-related quality of life and serious adverse effects for interventions in persistent post-COVID-19 smell loss, with secondary outcomes and GRADE certainty
What the authors reported
For PEA plus luteolin versus no intervention, only a single 12-person RCT was found, and the authors rate the certainty of evidence as very low across all outcomes, saying they cannot draw meaningful conclusions from the numerical results. The same applies to the one corticosteroid trial (18 participants).
Limits of this study
A Cochrane living systematic review with two small trials and very low certainty evidence. Search date 20 October 2021. Two authors are Cochrane ENT editors with no role in this review's editorial process; two treat COVID smell loss.
Source
PubMed 36062970 · doi:10.1002/14651858.CD013876.pub3
Entry checked against the abstract on PubMed on 2026-09-22. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.