A total of 139 participants have so far been enrolled in the clinical trial on the use of sleep-aid supplement melatonin as adjuvant treatment for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in patients with pneumonia, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said.
The DOST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) reported that the project team, led by Dr. Camilo C. Roa Jr. of the Manila Doctors Hospital (MDH) has already enrolled 139 participants from 13 hospital sites as of Oct. 29.
The DOST is eyeing to recruit 350 participants for the melatonin clinical trial.
“The project team has already enrolled 139 out of the 350 participants on the following hospital sites: Manila Doctors Hospital, Dr. Jose Rodriguez Memorial Center (Tala), The Medical City, San Lazaro Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, San Juan de Dios Hospital, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, Makati Medical Center, East Avenue Medical Center, Manila Medical Center, Vicente Sotto Memorial Hospital, and Philippine General Hospital,” it said in a report.
“To date, data analysis, cleaning and monitoring with the above-mentioned sites are continuously being done,” it added.
The project is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial which seeks to determine whether administering high doses of melatonin (hdM) will lessen the need for intubation or ventilation support of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and ultimately improve the survival rate against the infection.
It is titled “Melatonin as Adjuvant treatment for COVID-19 in Patients Requiring hospitalization (MAC19 PRO): A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial (RCT).
“The project generally aims to determine the effectiveness or efficacy (improvement of survival, less need for intubation and mechanical ventilation, clinical improvement and recovery) and safety of high-dose melatonin (hdM) (100 milligrams p.o. (one tablet by mouth) initially then three to four mg/KBW (kilogram body weight)/day p.o. in 4 divided doses) as adjuvant therapy on top of standard or empirical therapy in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia,” the PCHRD said.
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/07/recruitment-of-melatonin-trial-participants-still-ongoing-dost/