Melatonin and its effects on coronavirus
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fatemeh ahmadzadeh,1,* ali saboonpaz,2
1. Afaq Educational Institute of Urmia
2. Afaq Educational Institute of Urmia
- Introduction: Melatonin is a hormone that is released by the pineal gland in the brain and helps regulate the body's sleep-wake cycle. In addition to its role as a sleep cycle regulator, melatonin is a powerful antioxidant and cleanser of free radicals and also causes an impact on the function of several important antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismuta, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and catalase. It plays melatonin as a wonderful antioxidant.
Some symptoms, such as excessive inflammation and increased immune system reaction, can be symptoms of coronavirs. This condition leads to cytokine storms and subsequent progression to acute lung injury/acute respiratory syndrome and often death. Studies have shown that melatonin protects the body against acute respiratory syndrome caused by viruses and other pathogens, which is one of the effects of melatonin on inflammation.
- Methods: Melatonin properties help us to be more resistant to stressful conditions and deal with viral diseases easily. This hormone makes the body's strong molecules safer against the passage of time and less aging and complications. When our immune system is stronger, we deal well with diseases.
Studies have shown that melatonin protects the body against acute respiratory syndrome caused by viruses and other pathogens due to the effects of melatonin on inflammation.
Melatonin may have two completely different types of effects in Covid-19, each depending on the dosage and severity of the disease.
The Effect of Melatonin and NLRP3
Receptor 3 (NLRP3( NOD) is considered as part of the immune system. Viral pathogens to strengthen inflammation activate NLRP3. Melatonin by inhibiting this receptor affects the reduction of lung damage and inflammation of the airways, in these cases, melatonin reduces the penetration of macrophages and neutrophils into the damaged lung by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammation.
In studies conducted on mice, inhibition of NLRP3 in the early stage of infection increases mortality. While suppression of NLRP3 at the height of infection causes a protective effect. This review may show that high-dose melatonin is best used in the acute lung stage. The stage is ARDS. That is, when the inflammation becomes more intense.
Effect of Melatonin and ACE2
In addition to being a potent antioxidant, melatonin can have direct antiviral effects against COVID-19. In healthy people, melatonin levels decrease after the age of 40. Decreased levels of antioxidants and melatonin after the age of 40 can explain the cause of high mortality in patients with COVID-19. Melatonin indirectly affects ace2 function. ACE2 is an important receptor in the incidence of viral coronavirus infection.
- Results: Melatonin may play an important role in the prevention and treatment of covid-19. The effect of melatonin even seems to depend on its dosage:
Taking low doses (6-3 mg/day) of melatonin is useful for prevention or treatment in the early stages of corona disease.
Taking higher doses (20-40 mg per day) of melatonin is useful for managing lung damage or ARDS.
Melatonin can also have indirect benefits in managing intensive care patients by reducing vascular permeability, anxiety, sedation and improving sleep quality, all of which may be beneficial for better clinical outcomes for COVID-19 patients.
- Conclusion: Studies conducted by Columbia University researchers show that patients with corona who need intubation and mechanical ventilation due to respiratory distress can benefit from melatonin hormone therapy, in addition, exposure to melatonin following intubation has also been associated with a positive survival result among patients with COVID-19 who need mechanical ventilation.
However, no advantages have been observed in other non-coronavirus patients who need mechanical ventilation. This suggests that melatonin may, in the most severe cases of COVID-19, target inflammation caused by acute respiratory syndrome, coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
Following infection with SARS-CoV-2 most people usually experience symptoms such as fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath and loss of taste or smell. However, there are also some rare symptoms of corona. The most severe symptom of this disease is respiratory hayd syndrome, which in the worst case scenario, the patient may need intubation, mechanical ventilation and even potentially a lung pyodeon. Among the candida therapies that researchers have examined for the treatment of COVID-19, hormonal drugs such as dexamethasone have shown promising results.
- Keywords: COVID-19, melatonin hormones, immune system, inflammation
