ReviewDiseases (Basel, Switzerland)2020
Can Melatonin Be a Potential "Silver Bullet" in Treating COVID-19 Patients?
Review in Diseases (Basel, Switzerland), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
43 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 83 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Effect of a Nutritional Support System to Increase Survival and Reduce Mortality in Patients with COVID-19 in Stage III and Comorbidities: A Blinded Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Article
- Widespread pain syndrome in long COVID-19: melatonin as an adjuvant treatment.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Circadian re-set repairs long-COVID in a prodromal Parkinson's parallel: a case series.Journal of medical case reports · 2024Article
- Chronobiotic and cytoprotective activity of melatonin in the cardiovascular system. Doses matter.Npj biological timing and sleep · 2024Review
- Redox Homeostasis Alteration Is Restored through Melatonin Treatment in COVID-19 Patients: A Preliminary Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Vitamin D Supplementation in Neonatal and Infant MIS-C Following COVID-19 Infection.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Comprehensive review of melatonin as a promising nutritional and nutraceutical supplement.Heliyon · 2024Review
- Study on the correlation between lifestyle and negative conversion time in patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease (COVID-19): a retrospective cohort study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Melatonin and Cytokines Modulate Daily Instrumental Activities of Elderly People with SARS-CoV-2 Infection.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Melatonin as a Possible Natural Anti-Viral Compound in Plant Biocontrol.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Possible Application of Melatonin in Long COVID.Biomolecules · 2022Review
- Melatonin effect on platelets and coagulation: Implications for a prophylactic indication in COVID-19.Life sciences · 2022Review
- Essential Oils and Melatonin as Functional Ingredients in Dogs.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Review
- Melatonin drugs inhibit SARS-CoV-2 entry into the brain and virus-induced damage of cerebral small vessels.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2022Article
- Basic mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection. What endocrine systems could be implicated?Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2022Review
- Melatonin and Related Compounds: Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Actions.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Circadian disturbances, sleep difficulties and the COVID-19 pandemic.Sleep medicine · 2022Review
- Melatonin inMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The therapeutic potential of melatonin as a chronobiotic cytoprotective agent to counteract the consequences of COVID-19 infections has been advocated. Because of its wide-ranging effects as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory compound, melatonin could be unique in impairing the consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, indirect evidence points out to a possible antiviral action of melatonin by interfering with SARS-CoV-2/angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 association. Melatonin is also an effective chronobiotic agent to reverse the circadian disruption of social isolation and to control delirium in severely affected patients. As a cytoprotector, melatonin serves to combat several comorbidities such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and ischemic and non-ischemic cardiovascular diseases, which aggravate COVID-19 disease. In view of evidence on the occurrence of neurological sequels in COVID-19-infected patients, another putative application of melatonin emerges based on its neuroprotective properties. Since melatonin is an effective means to control cognitive decay in minimal cognitive impairment, its therapeutic significance for the neurological sequels of SARS-CoV-2 infection should be considered. Finally, yet importantly, exogenous melatonin can be an adjuvant capable of augmenting the efficacy of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. We discuss in this review the experimental evidence suggesting that melatonin is a potential "silver bullet" in the COVID 19 pandemic.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.