THE EFFECTS OF PINUS MASSONIANA (PINE POLLEN) AS ADJUVANT THERAPY ON LEUKOCYTES, T LYMPHOCYTES, C-REACTIVE PROTEIN, AND D-DIMERS IN HOSPITALIZED COVID-19 PATIENTS

Prettysun Ang Melow (Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya)
Handi Suyono (Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University)
Maria Magdalena Ano Djoka (Faculty of Medicine, Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya, Surabaya, East Java)
Agata Christi Palupi (Gotong Royong Hospital, Surabaya, East Java)
Steven Hermantoputra (Gotong Royong Hospital, Surabaya, East Java)
Anton Hariadi (Gotong Royong Hospital, Surabaya, East Java)
Yudita Wulandari (Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University)
Sri Purwaningsih (Gotong Royong Hospital, Surabaya, East Java)

Jurnal Widya Medika
Vol. 8 No. 1 (2022): April

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 infection has caused the Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic until present day. Pine pollen has been known and used as a medicine and has benefits for immunity. Aim: To determine the effects of Pinus massoniana (pine pollen) as an adjuvant on leukocytes count, T lymphocytes (CD4, CD8) count, plasma C-reactive protein level, plasma D-dimer level in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with moderate-severe clinical manifestation. Materials and Method: We used a double blind pretest-posttest control group design, with 2 groups, namely control (placebo) and treatment. The subjects were selected by simple random sampling, male and female patients aged 20-60 years. Peripheral blood samples were taken before and after treatment. Patients were given pine pollen or placebo 3 x 4 capsules (3 g / day) for 7 days. Data were analyzed by SPSS 23.0 t-test with significant value of p < 0.05. Results: The patients of treatment group were 16 people (13 male, 3 female), average age 46,25 years and control 13 people (10 male, 3 female), average age 47,92 years. The leukocytes count increased not significantly in the treatment group (p=0.499; 8.03%) while control increased significantly (p=0.027; 36.42%). The leukocytes count of control was 4,5 times greater than treatment group. The CD4 count increased significantly in the treatment group (p=0.004; 73.44%) and control (p=0.048; 28.97%), and the it was 2,5 times greater than control. The CD8 count increased significantly in the treatment group (p=0.005; 72.90%) and control (p=0.033; 34.66%), and it was 2,1 times greater than control. CRP levels were significantly reduced in the treatment group (p=0.001; 71.61%) and control (p=0.001; 78.13%). D-dimer levels decreased significantly in the treatment group (p=0.048), while the control increased but not significantly (p=0.200). The D-dimer level in the treatment group decreased by 37.93%, while the control increased by 43.70%. Conclusion: Further research is still needed to explore the effect of pine pollen on cellular immunity which in this case is T lymphocytes, especially CD4 and CD8, and hemostasis (coagulation) especially D-dimer. Pine pollen is beneficial for immune modulation in COVID-19 patients.