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Melatonin for Prevention of Kidney Injury

Melatonin for the Prevention of Antibiotic Associated Acute Kidney Injury

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05084196
Enrollment
300
Registered
2021-10-19
Start date
2023-06-05
Completion date
2027-12-31
Last updated
2025-12-17

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Acute Kidney Injury, Adverse Drug Event

Brief summary

This study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of melatonin for the prevention of antibiotic associated acute kidney injury in hospitalized patients.

Detailed description

Consenting subjects meeting inclusion and exclusion will be randomized to receive melatonin 5 mg daily or a matching placebo. Study subjects will be followed for the duration of hospitalization or discontinuation of broad spectrum antibiotics (vancomycin plus piperacillin/tazobactam). The primary outcome and secondary outcomes will be evaluated by the study team.

Interventions

DRUGMelatonin

Melatonin 5 mg capsule by mouth at bedtime

OTHERPlacebo Capsule

Placebo capsule by mouth at bedtime

Sponsors

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Caregiver)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Aged 18 to 75 years * Currently prescribed vancomycin with the presumption that therapy will be continued for at least 3 days based on a review of subject status. Because of the critical nature of starting empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics, we will allow one dose of the antibiotic combination before consent and enrollment. This strategy is necessary for the ethical conduct of the study.

Exclusion criteria

* Estimated creatinine clearance \< 30 mL/min * Liver impairment (liver enzymes \> 3 times upper limit) * Any history of allergy or contraindication to melatonin * Pregnancy or breastfeeding * Autoimmune disease * Requiring vasopressors * Requiring mechanical ventilation * History of acute kidney injury in the past 30 days * Inability to take oral medications * Clinical evidence of significant unstable or uncontrolled illness which, in the opinion of the research team, could confound the results of the study or put the patient at undue risk.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Acute kidney injuryFrom date of randomization until the date of first documented acute kidney injury or date of antibiotic discontinuation, whichever came first, assessed up to 28 daysAcute kidney injury will be defined as an increase in sCr from baseline of \>/= 0.3 mg/dL or a \>/= 50% increase from baseline.

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
Piperacillin/tazobactam plasma trough concentrationDays 3, 5, and 7Evaluate the steady state plasma trough concentration of piperacillin/tazobactam
Vancomycin plasma Area Under the Curve (AUC)Days 3, 5, and 7Evaluate the steady state plasma AUC of vancomycin
Association between Kidney Injury Molecule-1 (KIM-1) and serum creatinineDays 3, 5, and 7Measure KIM-1 in plasma and urine and evaluate discordance between serum creatinine.
Mitochondrial stress assessment via extracellular flux analysis to measure oxygen consumption rate of cellsDays 1 and 3Evaluate mitochondrial stress in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a subset of subjects in each group. In addition, mitochondrial stress will be evaluated on day 3 in a subset in the melatonin group.
Melatonin plasma trough concentrationDays 3, 5, and 7Evaluate the steady state plasma trough concentration of melatonin
Fold-change in NRF-2 gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cellsDays 1 and 5Measure gene expression level at baseline and then on day 5 (or last day of study if earlier) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and compare the fold-change from baseline between groups.
Number of subjects with NRF2 DNA single nucleotide polymorphismsDay 1Determination of the number of individuals with NRF2 DNA single nucleotide polymorphisms in the study population and compare the incidence of primary outcome in those with and without polymorphisms.
Number of subjects with KEAP1 DNA single nucleotide polymorphismsDay 1Determination of the number of individuals with KEAP1 DNA single nucleotide polymorphisms in the study population and compare the incidence of primary outcome in those with and without polymorphisms.
Urine mitochondrial DNA copy numberDays 1, 3, 5, and 7Measure mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in urine samples using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactLuigi Brunetti, PhD
luigi.brunetti@rutgers.edu908-595-2645

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026