2.1. Participants

A total of 50 patients were randomly selected from a clinical trial cohort of 93 patients over 18 years of age, who had a positive nasal swab PCR test for COVID-19 within the previous 24 h and were in stable condition not requiring hospitalization [22]. Chest tomography was done to rule out pneumonia. Patients who had a partial oxygen saturation below 93% and required hospitalization after diagnosis were excluded. Treatment started on the day of diagnosis. All patients were tested for COVID-19 using PCR on day 14 and received a negative result.

Participants for the randomized, open-label, placebo-controlled, phase-2 study for evaluating the efficacy and safety of combined metabolic activators in COVID-19 patients were from the general Turkish population and recruited at the Umraniye Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey, from September 2020 to January 2021. The 50 selected patients were all in the placebo group of the study and received 2.5 gram of sorbitol as placebo. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before the initiation of any trial-related procedures. The safety of the participants and the risk–benefit analysis were overseen by an independent external data-monitoring committee. The trial was conducted in accordance with Good Clinical Practice guidelines and the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.