Low-Dose naltrexone restored TRPM3 ion channel function in natural killer cells from long COVID patients

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Sasso, Etianne Martini
Eaton-Fitch, Natalie
Smith, Peter
Muraki, Katsuhiko
Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya
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2025
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Abstract

Introduction: Long COVID is a multisystemic condition that includes neurocognitive, immunological, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular manifestations, independent of the severity or duration of the acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Dysfunctional Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 3 (TRPM3) ion channels are associated with the pathophysiology of long COVID due to reduced calcium (Ca2+) influx, negatively impacting cellular processes in diverse systems. Accumulating evidence suggests the potential therapeutic benefits of low-dose naltrexone (LDN) for people suffering from long COVID. Our study aimed to investigate the efficacy of LDN in restoring TRPM3 ion channel function in natural killer (NK) cells from long COVID patients. Methods: NK cells were isolated from nine individuals with long COVID, nine healthy controls, and nine individuals with long COVID who were administered LDN (3–4.5 mg/day). Electrophysiological experiments were conducted to assess TRPM3 ion channel functions modulated by pregnenolone sulfate (PregS) and ononetin. Results: The findings from this current research are the first to demonstrate that long COVID patients treated with LDN have restored TRPM3 ion channel function and validate previous reports of TRPM3 ion channel dysfunction in NK cells from individuals with long COVID not on treatment. There was no significant difference in TRPM3 currents between long COVID patients treated with LDN and healthy controls (HC), in either PregS-induced current amplitude (p > 0.9999) or resistance to ononetin (p > 0.9999). Discussion: Overall, our findings support LDN as a potentially beneficial treatment for long COVID patients by restoring TRPM3 ion channel function and reestablishing adequate Ca2+ influx necessary for homeostatic cellular processes.

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Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

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12

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NHMRC

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GNT1199502

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© 2025 Sasso, Eaton-Fitch, Smith, Muraki and Marshall-Gradisnik. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Biochemistry and cell biology

Medical biochemistry and metabolomics

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Sasso, EM; Eaton-Fitch, N; Smith, P; Muraki, K; Marshall-Gradisnik, S, Low-Dose naltrexone restored TRPM3 ion channel function in natural killer cells from long COVID patients, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, 2025, 12, pp. 1582967

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