This is a journal article detailing a randomized controlled trial of an SSRI antidepressant and its effectiveness in treating COVID-19. Fluvoxamine is speculated to be a Sigma-1 receptor agonist, which inhibits the inflammatory pathway that leads to severe symptoms and ARDS. It also increases serum concentration of melatonin by 2-3 fold, which can also contribute to anti-inflammatory properties. The study showed that out of 80 patients randomized to receive fluvoxamine less than one week after being diagnosed with COVID-19, none required admission to the hospital or experienced an oxygen saturation that dropped below 92%. 6/72 in the control group required hospitalization or experienced a decline in oxygen saturation. However, the paper was limited by a small sample size, and the average age of the population was 46, which is generally not a high risk group.
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