page 3
discharged an average of 3 days after starting treatment. Treatment should be continued
regardless of negative results, until low dose lysine is reached, and no symptoms are
observed. Even when lysine was in short supply, subjects on 2 grams on day 1, and 1
gram the following days, while adhering to the dietary restrictions, had slightly delayed
but timely recoveries. Resuming physical activity too early during recovery sometimes
resulted in setbacks. Several of the inpatients, tabulated and non, after starting this
protocol were RT-PCR negative on day 2 to 3, coinciding typically with their discharge. A
larger sample size and randomized controlled trials with RT-PCR daily testing will be
required to assess the true time to conversion to seronegative. Five patients who fasted
on day 1, due to lack of appetite, were noted to have a significant reduction in the time
and severity of febrile and non-febrile symptoms. It is assumed that zero food intake
equated to no arginine consumed, and hence faster response time. For this group, the
time to significant reduction in symptom varied from 4 hours to 18 hours (with only a
few symptoms remaining). It is important to note that while the average subject may be
completely asymptomatic on day 3 or 4, if they stop treatment/exhaust lysine supply, on
many occasions, symptoms return, albeit usually reduced in severity. Typically for this
group, symptoms abate within a few hours of resuming their lysine.
Lysine is a treatment, not a cure, and is dependent on the immune system response
gathering momentum to further control the illness. All should remain on at least a
maintenance dose of 1 gm for a minimum of a 1 week (preferably 2 weeks or more)
after all symptoms have abated including following dietary restrictions for 3 weeks to
prevent relapse. Evidence of asymptomatic clotting for those who stopped the regimen
too early was observed. Coffee (associated arginine increase) can overwhelm lysine
rendering it ineffective until the caffeine effect subsides. The caffeine effect displaces
lysine from the metabolic pathways. (18) Coffee/high caffeine consumption was the
most common behavior of long term symptomatic subjects, followed by a
vegetarian/lysine deficient diet and exercising. Coffee/high caffeine drinks should be
avoided during treatment and for 3 weeks after recovery at a minimum. Our treatment
protocol has been used in more than 180 patients, with 40+ reported here. Only 1
subject was hospitalized after starting lysine for secondary bacterial infection. He was
discharged 6 days later, with no long-term effects. One Covid-19 confirmed fatality due
to secondary bacterial infection occurred. Obviously more studies, including randomized
controlled trials, are required for full clinical understanding.
One of the most important observations in relation to lysine was the incredibly short
time to eliminate/reduce fever presumably due to extinguishing the associated cytokine
storm. Cytokine storm appears to be extinguished in hours, based on the 5 inpatients
4
who appeared to be in severe crisis when lysine was administered who showed very
rapid reduction in symptoms and stabilization. CRP levels returned to normal, yet D-
dimer levels were high in some subjects. Only a small percentage of subjects on lysine
were febrile past 24 hours, and most were relieved in less than 12 hours with proper
doses and dietary restrictions. IL-10 inhibits the synthesis of IL-6, TNF and IL-1 beta
which are implicated in fever. (8) IL-10 serves as an endogenous antipyretic. (8) Lysine
deficiency raises IL-6 inflammatory cytokine levels, so lysine potentially has an IL-6
inhibitory effect, and lysine also increases IL-10 anti-inflammatory cytokines as shown in
the liver. (7) Therefore, it is logical to assume that supplementation with lysine could
restore or augment IL-10 levels resulting in downregulating proinflammatory cytokines,
in turn eliminating fevers and cytokine storms. IL-6 inhibitors for patients with severe
Covid-19 are associated with decreased intubation, reduced mortality, and increased
discharge. (13) L-lysine decreases nitric oxide production (14), thereby limiting a key role
in the pathogenesis of inflammation, and thus lysine may serve an anti-inflammatory
role (15) by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines (24). These clinical results suggest that
lysine appears highly suppressive of viral replication, and if these results are confirmed
by further studies, lysine should significantly flatten the curve, reduce mortality and
hospital bed utilization while we await a curative vaccine or vaccines, ideally one with
universal application across the entire Coronavirus group.
It might be that the combination of suppressive lysine and vaccination is superior to either
alone. There may be places in the world where even inexpensive lysine is unaffordable, but
high lysine foods combined with arginine restriction might still serve the purpose. Our hope
is that these findings will encourage those in a position to perform follow-up studies to do
so, hopefully confirming its usefulness, and further refining our understanding of optimal
dosage, mechanisms, routes of administration and how to maximize the efficacy of this
therapy.
Cautionary note: Long term asymptomatic (over 1 month) and medically fragile patients
should exercise caution and use low dose lysine for the initial days and incrementally
raise their dose 500 mg every 4 to 5 days, until reaching 2500 mg daily and evaluate.
Higher doses have been used, but the concern is that doses higher than 3000 mg could
result in occult clots embolizing. No coffee, exercise, marijuana, or arginine rich foods
during treatment is included in the recommended protocol. Lysine has been reported to
nearly double serum zinc levels without supplementation. (16) Zinc and calcium should
not be given with lysine since lysine also raises calcium levels. (22) Patients on
pacemakers should be under close clinical observation since lysine might increase
cardiac output (21) and increases pulmonary resistance. (14) Clinicians who are
5
interested in more details may contact us for additional information at Bio-Virus
Research +1(775) 742 8811, xyz1953*gmail.com).
Bio-Virus Research Inc.
5774 Tappan Dr.
Reno, Nevada, USA
xyz1953*gmail.com
+1(775) 742-8811