Melatonin for the Treatment of DEE-SWAS

October 28, 2025 updated by: Carosella, Christopher, Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc.

Melatonin for the Treatment of Developmental/Epileptic Encephalopathy With Spike Wave Activation In Sleep (DEE-SWAS; Formerly ESES)

The goal of this study is to learn if melatonin, a naturally produced substance, can help to treat some of the symptoms of DEE-SWAS, a type of epilepsy that causes children to lose skills and development. It will look at doses of melatonin that are higher than most people use.

The study will look at the safety of melatonin in patients with DEE-SWAS The study will look at the ways melatonin affects abnormal brain activity on a study called an EEG.

The study will look at the ways melatonin affects normal brain activity that occurs in sleep.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
3

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Clinic Dx of DEE-SWAS

  1. Dx of DEE-SWAS by a board-certified pediatric neurology/epileptologist Clinical history of delayed milestones in at least 1 category, regression of milestones in at least 1 category, and/or failure to progress in milestones in at least 1 category
  2. Abnormal baseline neuropsychiatric testing consistent with Dx Abnormal EEG
  3. Epileptiform abnormalities (spike, polyspike, sharp) in at least 1 head region
  4. Increase by 2-fold of epileptiform abnormalities during NREM sleep as compared to wakefulness
  5. SWI of ≥50% in at least one head region on overnight EEG

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Allergic to ingredients in study drug Melatonin

    • Hypoallergenic plant fiber (cellulose)
    • Active use of the medication viloxazine
  2. History of known cardiac rhythm abnormalities, heart failure or decreased EF <30%
  3. History of known pulm requiring oxygen or invasive positive pressure ventilation. Patients with non-invasive PPV (e.g. CPAP) due OSA w/o 02 requirement, rate, or DX of CSA, on stable pressure settings for >3 mnths will not be excluded.
  4. History of liver dysf OR AST/ALT/AlkPhos >2.5 ULN w/i year. If lab value meeting exclusion between 3-12 months, a repeat lab value < 2.5 ULN will be considered for inclusion
  5. Post-menarchal participants. of childbearing potential with a positive urine pregnancy test

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Melatonin
Melatonin 0.3mg/kg (20mg max)
Drug: Melatonin
Melatonin will be used in single fixed dose as described

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Adverse Events
Time Frame: Within 24 hours of dose administration
This study will evaluate for adverse events associated with single high dose melatonin administration
Within 24 hours of dose administration
Side effects
Time Frame: Within 24 hours of dose administration
This study will evaluate for multiorgan adverse effects associated with single high dose melatonin administration based on standardized questionnaire assessment. The assessment is a multiorgan adverse event questionnaire described in Jarernsiripornkul 2001, modified to reflect single dosing rather than chronic dosing. The results of this questionanaire are descriptive.
Within 24 hours of dose administration

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Spike wave index (SWI)
Time Frame: Within 24 hours of dose administration
This study will evaluate change in epileptiform activity during NREM sleep as defined by common clinical definition of SWI - average percentage of second bins containing an epileptiform discharge during NREM sleep
Within 24 hours of dose administration
Sleep spindle
Time Frame: Within 24 hours of dose administration
This study will evaluate change in sleep spindle activity during NREM sleep using both blinded review and validated deep learning algorithmic detection.
Within 24 hours of dose administration
Salivary melatonin pharmacokinetics
Time Frame: 24 hours prior to intervention and 24 hours following intervention
Baseline and post intervention salivary melatonin levels will be obtained at multiple time points
24 hours prior to intervention and 24 hours following intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc.

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Johns Hopkins University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
July 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
July 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 30, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
October 27, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 27, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
October 29, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
October 30, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 28, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • IRB00478764

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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