RETRACTED: Electroacupuncture-assisted Ribavirin Dosing for Long COVID: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background and objectives Various devices are used to study the unique electrical properties of acupuncture points (APs), with Voll’s electropuncture diagnostics (EAV) occupying a prominent role. The technical design of EAV allows for the testing of drugs to determine their individual selection and dosages. However, the physiological basis of this phenomenon remains unclear. This study investigated the feasibility of evaluating the electrodermal activity of APs to determine the daily dose of ribavirin using electroacupuncture according to the Voll diagnostic system in patients with long COVID.

Methods This blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial included 101 patients (aged 16 to 50) who met the definition of long COVID and were examined using an EAV testing system that measures the electrodermal activity of APs. Ribavirin was tested at the APs with established decreased electrical impedance readings to determine the daily doses. Fifty-two participants were randomized to the experimental group, and forty-nine to the placebo group. These patients were considered for data analysis.

Results The results of this study demonstrated the feasibility of using EAV to identify APs with decreased levels of electrodermal activity, followed by medicament testing (MT) of different ribavirin doses to restore the electrodermal activity at these points.

Conclusions The results indicated that the tested doses of ribavirin in patients with long COVID correlate with electrodermal activity at certain APs along specific meridians. Higher doses of the drug were associated with lower electrodermal activity readings during MT using the EAV diagnostic system. However, further clinical and instrumental studies are needed to evaluate the clinical application of MT in the assessment of long COVID.

Keywords

Long COVID / SARS-CoV-2 / Medicament testing / Electrodermal activ-ity / Acupuncture point / Measurement point / Ribavirin / Daily doses

Acknowledgments

A preprint of this article was previously published on Research Square.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agen-cies, either public or commercial.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author contributions

Study design and conceptualization (ND, GA, LD), methodology and investigation (ND, GA, LD), statistical analysis (DU), And original draft preparation (ND). All authors approved the final ver-sion for publication.

Ethical statement

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Research Institute of Virology of Uzbekistan (6/8-1550, from 27/11/2020). All enrolled patients signed a written informed con-sent form for the study.

Data sharing statement

Study data are available upon reasonable request.

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