The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19): Key emphasis on melatonin safety and therapeutic efficacy

Abstract

Viral infections constitute a tectonic convulsion in the normophysiology of the hosts. The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is not an exception, and therefore the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, like any other invading mi-crobe, enacts a generalized immune response once the virus contacts the body. Melatonin is a systemic dealer that does not overlook any homeostasis disturbance, which consequently brings into play its cooperative triad, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune-stimulant backbone, to stop the infective cycle of SARS-CoV-2 or any other endogenous or exogenous threat. In COVID-19, the corporal propagation of SARS-CoV-2 involves an exacerbated oxidative activity and therefore the overproduction of great amounts of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS). The endorsement of melatonin as a possible protective agent against the current pandemic is indirectly supported by its widely demonstrated beneficial role in preclinical and clinical studies of other respiratory dis-eases. In addition, focusing the therapeutic action on strengthening the host protection responses in critical phases of the infective cycle makes it likely that multi-tasking melatonin will provide multi-protection, maintaining its efficacy against the virus variants that are already emerging and will emerge as long as SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate among us.