ReviewJournal of thoracic disease2020
Melatonin for the treatment of sepsis: the scientific rationale.
Review in Journal of thoracic disease, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 99 citations in OpenAlex.
- Oral Melatonin in Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19: A Quasi-Experimental Pragmatic Trial.Journal of medical virology · 2026Trial
- Melatonin ameliorates inflammation and improves outcomes of ischemia/reperfusion injury in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery: a randomized placebo-controlled study.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2025Trial
- A phase II, single-center, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial to explore the efficacy and safety of intravenous melatonin in surgical patients with severe sepsis admitted to the intensive care unit.Journal of pineal research · 2023Trial
- Dose assessment of melatonin in sepsis (DAMSEL2) study: Pharmacokinetics of two doses of oral melatonin in patients with sepsis.Journal of pineal research · 2022Trial
- Efficacy of a Low Dose of Melatonin as an Adjunctive Therapy in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19: A Randomized, Double-blind Clinical Trial.Archives of medical research · 2022Trial
- The Effect of Melatonin on Thrombosis, Sepsis and Mortality Rate in COVID-19 Patients.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2022Trial
- Trichinella spiralis infection remodels intestinal neurotransmitter metabolism during LPS-induced systemic inflammation.Food and waterborne parasitology · 2026Article
- Utility of melatonin on brain injury, synaptic transmission, and energy metabolism in rats with sepsis.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Insight into the cardioprotective effects of melatonin: shining a spotlight on intercellular Sirt signaling communication.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2025Review
- Recent advances in understanding oxidative stress in sepsis: pathogenic roles and antioxidant therapeutic prospects - a narrative review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Liver injury in sepsis: manifestations, mechanisms and emerging therapeutic strategies.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Melatonin, an Antitumor Necrosis Factor Therapy.Journal of pineal research · 2025Review
- From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Therapy: Understanding Sepsis-Induced Multiple Organ Dysfunction.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Article
- Role of Melatonin in Viral, Bacterial and Parasitic Infections.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Analysis of Immune and Prognostic-Related lncRNA PRKCQ-AS1 for Predicting Prognosis and Regulating Effect in Sepsis.Journal of inflammation research · 2024Article
- Exploring the role of antioxidants in sepsis-associated oxidative stress: a comprehensive review.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Review
- Melatonin as a Promising Anti-Inflammatory Agent in an In Vivo Animal Model of Sepsis-Induced Rat Liver Damage.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Review
- Potential Neuroprotective Role of Melatonin in Sepsis-Associated Encephalopathy Due to Its Scavenging and Anti-Oxidative Properties.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sepsis affects 30 million people worldwide, leading to 6 million deaths every year (WHO), and despite decades of research, novel initiatives are drastically needed. According to the current literature, oxidative imbalance and mitochondrial dysfunction are common features of septic patients that can cause multiorgan failure and death. Melatonin, alongside its traditionally accepted role as the master hormonal regulator of the circadian rhythm, is a promising adjunctive drug for sepsis through its anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic and powerful antioxidant properties. Several animal models of sepsis have demonstrated that melatonin can prevent multiorgan dysfunction and improve survival through restoring mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) function, inhibiting nitric oxide synthesis and reducing cytokine production. The purpose of this article is to review the current evidence for the role of melatonin in sepsis, review its pharmacokinetic profile and virtual absence of side effects. While clinical data is limited, we propose the adjunctive use of melatonin is patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.