Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) has been identified as a potential treatment for Long COVID after a Griffith University study, published in Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, found it restored cellular function in human cells.
Medical Xpress
Extracts
Lead author Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik from Griffith's National Center for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED) said the study provided hope for the millions suffering from long COVID.
Given the debilitating nature of long COVID, there is an urgent need for effective treatments and low-dose naltrexone is a repurposed and safe drug which is typically used for opioid addiction.
Professor Marshall-Gradisnik
Previous studies conducted by NCNED's team have shown TRPM3 ion channels, essential for transporting calcium into cells, were faulty in long COVID patients.
MEA Comment
Some new research evidence supports the use of clinical trials, one of which is being funded by the MEA Ramsay Research Fund, to assess the safety and efficacy of using LDN as a possible treatment for Long Covid and ME/CFS.
LDN is obtainable here in the UK from some private medical and pharmacy sources. LDN is not normally available on the NHS because there is insufficient evidence from clinical trials on safety and efficacy to make it a form of treatment for ME/CFS or Long Covid that is recommended in a NICE guideline.
The MEA Ramsay Research Fund is funding Dr Luis Nacul and colleagues to carry out a clinical trial to assess the use of LDN in post Covid ME/CFS.
Dr Charles Shepherd,
Trustee and Hon. Medical Adviser to the ME Association,
Member of the 2018-2021 NICE guideline on ME/CFS committee,
Member of the 2002 Chief Medical Officer's Working Group on ME/CFS
