Exploring the Potential of Donkey Milk in Enhancing Pneumonia Treatment Outcomes-Pilot Study

Background/Objectives: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major cause of hospitalization and mortality worldwide, with growing interest in adjunctive therapies to enhance treatment outcomes. Donkey milk, long used in traditional medicine for respiratory illnesses, contains bioactive compounds with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties that may benefit patients with CAP. Methods: Sixty hospitalized patients were prospectively allocated into two groups based on their consent to receive adjunctive donkey milk supplementation: one received standard antibiotic therapy plus 250 mL of pasteurized donkey milk twice daily for one month, while the control group received antibiotics alone. Results: Patients consuming donkey milk showed significantly faster reductions in C-reactive protein CRP and procalcitonin PCT levels, greater radiological improvement (p < 0.001), and a shorter average hospital stay (12.46 vs. 14.16 days). Logistic regression analysis identified donkey milk consumption as a significant predictor of shorter hospital stay. Importantly, no adverse effects were reported, and compliance with the supplementation was high. Conclusions: These findings suggest that pasteurized donkey milk may serve as a safe and effective natural adjunct to standard antibiotic therapy in managing CAP, with potential to enhance recovery and reduce hospital stay. Further large-scale studies are needed to validate these results and explore broader applications of donkey milk in infectious diseases.