Melatonin and the health of menopausal women: A systematic review (original) (raw)
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Effects of Melatonin in Perimenopausal and Menopausal Women: Our Personal Experience
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2005
The purpose of this clinical trial on possible effects of nocturnal MEL administration in perimenopausal women was to find if MEL by itself modifies levels of hormones and produces changes of any kind, independently of age (42-62 years of age) and the stage of the menstrual cycle. It is accepted that a close link exists between the pineal gland, MEL, and human reproduction and that a relationship exists between adenohypophyseal and steroid hormones and MEL during the ovarian cycle, perimenopause, and menopause. Subjects took a daily dose of 3 mg synthetic melatonin or a placebo for 6 months. Levels of melatonin were determined from five daily saliva samples taken at fixed times. Hormone levels were determined from blood samples three times over the 6-month period. Our results indicate that a cause-effect relationship between the decline of nocturnal levels of MEL and onset of menopause may exist. The follow up controls show that MEL abrogates hormonal, menopause-related neurovegetative disturbances and restores menstrual cyclicity and fertility in perimenopausal or menopausal women. At present we assert that the six-month treatment with MEL produced a remarkable and highly significant improvement of thyroid function, positive changes of gonadotropins towards more juvenile levels, and abrogation of menopause-related depression.
Melatonin and the benefits of its supplementation during peri-menopause and menopause (Atena Editora), 2023
A melatonina é um hormônio produzido pela glândula pineal, e seu papel principal é regular o ciclo circadiano. No entanto, a função da melatonina vai além disso, desempenhando um papel significativo em relação a alterações psicomotoras, distúrbios do sono e influência positiva no bem-estar. Devido à redução nos níveis séricos não apenas de hormônios gonadais, mas também de melatonina durante os períodos de perimenopausa e menopausa, as mulheres experimentam depressão, ansiedade, insônia, obesidade e, consequentemente, uma menor qualidade de vida. Embora ainda haja falta de prova da segurança em relação às doses e ao uso crônico de melatonina, a administração exógena deste hormônio é sugerida como tratamento alternativo para esses distúrbios psicossomáticos e metabólicos relacionados à menopausa. Esta revisão tem como objetivo apresentar e atualizar informações sobre os benefícios e possíveis efeitos deletérios da melatonina como terapia adjuvante na perimenopausa e menopausa.
Sleep, melatonin, and the menopausal transition: What are the links?
Sleep Science, 2017
The pineal hormone Melatonin plays an important role in the regulation of the circadian sleep/ wake cycle, mood, and perhaps immune functions, carcinogensis and reproduction. The human circadian rhythm of melatonin release from the pineal gland is tightly synchronized with the habitual hours of sleep. Peri-and postmenopausal women often complain of difficulties initiating and/or maintaining sleep, with frequent nocturnal and early morning awakenings. In this review we discuss the pathophysiology of melatonin function as it relates to sleep disorders in menopausal women, highlighting the potential use of exogenous melatonin during the menopausal transition and beyond.
Maturitas, 2014
Objectives: Melatonin levels decrease physiologically with age, and possibly with the transition to menopause. The plausible influence of hormone therapy (HT) on melatonin is poorly understood. The aim of this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial was to investigate the effect of HT administration on serum melatonin concentrations in late premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Main outcome measures: Melatonin levels and secretion profile after 6 months of HT compared to placebo. Results: Mean melatonin levels, mean melatonin exposure level (area under curve, AUC) and mean duration of melatonin secretion did not differ after 6 months with HT vs. placebo, irrespectively of the reproductive state. However, in postmenopausal women the melatonin peak time (acrophase) was delayed by 2.4 h (2 h 21 min) on average after 6 months with HT vs. placebo (p < 0.05). No interaction between time and group was detected when melatonin level was modelled before or after treatment. Conclusions: Administration of HT to postmenopausal women alters melatonin peak time, but not melatonin levels. Further research on larger clinical samples is needed to better understand the effects of HT on melatonin profile.
Melatonin in postmenopausal females
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 2000
There is little information about the interaction between melatonin, sexual steroids and neuroendocrine system in postmenopausal females, even if former research showed that melatonin is clearly involved in human physiology and pathophysiology. We evaluated the overnight urinary excretion of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (6-SMT) using a radioimmunoassay in 60 postmenopausal women. The group has been divided into patients with insomnia (10), hyperprolactinemia , depression (9), obesity (7) and controls . Compared to controls 6-SMT values were significantly higher in depressive females. Patients with hyperprolactinemia showed a trend toward a significantly elevated average nocturnal melatonin concentration. Melatonin levels were significantly lower in patients with insomnia and obese postmenopausal females than in controls. Since previus studies described lower melatonin levels in postmenopausal than in premenopausal women, the indication of melatonintherapy, especially for sleep disorders in this collective, can be handled more generously. Melatonin should be prescribed restrictively in patients with depression and in those with hyperprolactinemia. The role of melatonin in obese females remains unclear.
The effect of long-term melatonin supplementation on psychosomatic disorders in postmenopausal women
Journal of physiology and pharmacology : an official journal of the Polish Physiological Society, 2018
Different psychosomatic disorders are observed in postmenopausal women. The decrease of estrogen production is believed to be the main cause of their severity. It is nowadays evident that the decreased melatonin release in women at this age who suffer from postmenopausal disorders might also contribute to the severity of the symptoms. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of melatonin supplementation on female hormones release and the alteration in climacteric symptoms. The study included 60 postmenopausal women, aged 51 - 64 years, who were randomly allotted into two equal groups. Group I was recommended placebo (2 x 1 tablet) and Group II - melatonin (3 mg in the morning and 5 mg at bedtime) for 12 months. Serum levels of 17β-estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), melatonin and urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) excretion as well as Kupperman Index (KI) and body mass index (BMI) were determined before the start and at 12 months after placebo or melatonin admini...
Melatonin Patterns and Levels During the Human Menstrual Cycle and After Menopause
2020
Context Melatonin may play a role in the regulation of the human menstrual cycle and may decline with menopause and/or aging. Objective The objective of this work is to investigate the relations between melatonin and the menstrual cycle, menopause, and aging. Methods This was a cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of 20 participants from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Daily Hormone Study (DHS). The outcome measure was first-morning urine assay of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s), a gauge of melatonin. For each participant, aMT6s was measured daily during one premenopausal cycle with evidence of luteal activity (ELA) and one postmenopausal collection with no evidence of luteal activity (NELA). Results In addition to the organized patterns of hormone metabolites (estrone conjugates [E1c], and pregnanediol glucuronide [PdG]) and gonadotropins that characterized ovulatory menstrual cycles, there was a late luteal rise in aMT6s. In NELA collections, there was no pe...
Melatonin effects on luteinizing hormone in postmenopausal women: a pilot clinical trial NCT00288262
BMC women's health, 2006
In many mammals, the duration of the nocturnal melatonin elevation regulates seasonal changes in reproductive hormones such as luteinizing hormone (LH). Melatonin's effects on human reproductive endocrinology are uncertain. It is thought that the same hypothalamic pulse generator may both trigger the pulsatile release of GnRH and LH and also cause hot flashes. Thus, if melatonin suppressed this pulse generator in postmenopausal women, it might moderate hot flashes. This clinical trial tested the hypothesis that melatonin could suppress LH and relieve hot flashes. Twenty postmenopausal women troubled by hot flashes underwent one week of baseline observation followed by 4 weeks of a randomized controlled trial of melatonin or matched placebo. The three randomized treatments were melatonin 0.5 mg 2.5-3 hours before bedtime, melatonin 0.5 mg upon morning awakening, or placebo capsules. Twelve of the women were admitted to the GCRC at baseline and at the end of randomized treatment f...