BUFFALO, N.Y. — Researchers at the University at Buffalo have launched a clinical trial to test if melatonin can be used to treat COVID-19.
The researchers who are conducting this trial at UB have expertise knowledge with the brain hormone melatonin, lung disease and infectious disease. They are testing melatonin as a treatment for patients with mild and moderate COVID-19.
“Current proven treatments for COVID-19 are for patients severe enough to be hospitalized,” said Sanjay Sethi, director of UB’s Clinical Research Office and deputy director of the university’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). “It would be a major advance to have a treatment that is effective in milder disease. The infrastructure and collaborations fostered by the CTSI over the past few years at UB are why the team that is putting this trial in motion was able to come together so rapidly.”
The clinical trial on the use of melatonin and COVID-19 is one of the few being conducted around the world, and the only one in New York State. This pilot trial will enroll 30 patients, of which 20 will be treated with melatonin and 10 will receive placebo.
Researchers plan to begin recruiting for the trial on or before October 1. Outpatients who have tested positive for COVID-19 and whose disease is mild enough that they can be treated at home will be potentially eligible for the trial.
