Melatonin, a dietary supplement often used by people with insomnia, could be used to prevent or treat COVID-19, according to researchers at the Cleveland Clinic.
The hormone – which regulates the sleep-wake cycle – was associated with a nearly 30 percent reduced chance of contracting the disease, the scientists said in research published in the journal PLOS Biology, KIRO 7 reported.
Additional studies are required on the over-the-counter supplement, the researchers said.
“It is very important to note that these findings do not suggest that people should start taking melatonin without consulting their doctor,” lead investigator Feixiong Cheng of the Cleveland Clinic’s Genomic Medicine Institute said in a statement, WebMD reported.
“Large-scale observational studies and randomized controlled trials are critical to validate the clinical benefit of melatonin for patients with COVID-19,” he added. “But we’re excited about the associations highlighted in this study and the opportunity to explore them further.”
Cheng and his team used artificial intelligence to search a COVID-19 registry of nearly 27,000 people in the hospital. They found that people who take melatonin are nearly 28 percent less likely to test positive.
The difference is even greater with blacks.
“Importantly, melatonin use is associated with a 52 percent reduced chance of a positive laboratory test result for SARS-CoV-2 in African Americans,” the study said.
“When we got this result, we were very excited,” Cheng told KIRO 7. “If our findings can help patients, that’s our goal and mission – and at the Cleveland Clinic, too.”
The study was published last month, but an article in The Atlantic on the link between the coronavirus and sleep sparked new interest in the study, the outlet reported.
“I read the article on melatonin and sleep and I thought, ‘I’m already taking melatonin every day!’” Ruth Harvey from Seattle told KIRO 7. “I said, ‘That’s great, maybe I’m doing the right thing to stay healthy.’ It’s really encouraging. “
President Trump also received melatonin – in addition to zinc, vitamin D, famotidine and aspirin – while he was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October.
He was treated with experimental polyclonal antibodies, the antiviral drug remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone.
When asked if people taking melatonin are less susceptible to the virus because they sleep better or because of the supplement itself, Cheng said researchers don’t yet know the “exact mechanism”.
“But more and more data is emerging to support our hypothesis,” he told KIRO 7, adding that studies are increasingly showing that melatonin can also help regulate the immune system.
Other studies have also shown that melatonin reduces chronic and acute inflammation, the station reported.
“Melatonin can also help us improve our human body – what we call tolerance. To help us reduce the tissue or organ damage caused by COVID infection, ”said Cheng.
Meanwhile, a study of thousands of intubated COVID-19 patients conducted at Columbia University Irving Medical Center found that when exposed to melatonin after intubation, they had better results, KIRO 7 reported.
The researchers recommended additional studies based on those findings.
And at the University of Toronto, researchers found that melatonin can be added to increase the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines, according to News-Medical.net.
Eight clinical trials are underway worldwide to see if melatonin’s findings corroborate, according to The Atlantic, who noted that if the commonly available sleep hormone appears to help people, it would be the cheapest and most easily accessible drug to combat the disease. deadly bug.