Griffith University researchers to trial naltrexone on long COVID patients

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Queensland,Griffith University,Medical Research

After finding anecdotal success with low doses of naltrexone, Griffith University researchers will undertake clinical trials involving the drug and a placebo to see its effect on long COVID sufferers.

Jayden Donald went from a fit and healthy teenager who rode his horses almost every day, to being so sick he could hardly sit up after his second bout of COVID-19.

"Every time he stood up, he saw black dots to the point where then he started pouring with sweat, became white, nearly fainted," his mother Susan recalls.Long COVID is described by the World Health Organisation as the continuation or development of new symptoms three months after an initial infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.Jayden, on the other hand, sees a general practitioner and specialists with experience in treating long COVID.

Her PhD student Etianne Martini Sasso describes the patients as having faulty ion channels — or doors on their natural killer cell membranes — which prevent calcium from getting in and out of the cells. The researchers hope to identify more drugs that target and fix the broken door on patients' natural killer cells to improve treatment options, being mindful that patients can experience different symptoms despite having a similar diagnosis.

 

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