Fig. 1.

Treatment with melatonin receptor ligands decreases viral load in the brain. A, B RNA levels of viral N protein in the lungs (A) or in the cerebral cortex (B) of SARS-CoV-2-infected mice at DPI-7 (n = 6). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ****p < 0.0001 by Kruskal–Wallis test with two-stage linear step-up procedure of Benjamini, Krieger and Yekutieli as post test for multiple comparisons. C Contingency distribution of mice according to 3 groups of RNA level of viral N protein in the cortex grouped by tercentiles (χ² test: p value = 0.0065). D, E Immunolabeling for N protein (red) and nucleus (blue) in the cortex (D) or hypothalamus (E) of K18-hACE2-infected mice 7 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection (n = 6)