The effect of long-term melatonin supplementation on psychosomatic disorders in postmenopausal women (original) (raw)
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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.
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.
Melatonin and the health of menopausal women: A systematic review
Journal of Pineal Research, 2021
Aging is associated with disruptions in the circadian system and a decrease in melatonin secretion. Toward the fifth decade of life, characteristic changes in the architecture of sleep and corresponding EEG changes occur. 1 These changes have ramifications for mental and physical health, and for the immune, metabolic, endocrine, and cardiovascular systems. 1,2 The pineal hormone has a direct influence on almost every organ in the body. It regulates the immune system, prevents neuronal over-excitation, has analgesic properties, supports bone health, and participates in metabolic and antioxidant processes. 3 In women, chronologic aging is associated with reproductive aging. Changes and fluctuations in ovarian hormones and gonadotropins cause cessation in reproductive function and affect many other estrogen-dependent
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.
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.
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2014
One of the core symptoms of the menopausal transition is sleep disturbance. Peri-menopausal women often complain of difficulties initiating and/or maintaining sleep with frequent nocturnal and early morning awakenings. Factors that may play a role in this type of insomnia include vasomotor symptoms and changing reproductive hormone levels, circadian rhythm abnormalities, primary insomnia, mood disorders, coexistent medical conditions, and lifestyle. Exogenous melatonin reportedly induces drowsiness and sleep, and may ameliorate sleep disturbances, including the nocturnal awakenings associated with old age and the menopausal transition. Recently, more potent melatonin analogs with prolonged effects and slow-release melatonin preparations have been developed. The melatonergic receptor ramelteon is a selective melatonin-1 (MT1) and melatonin-2 (MT2) receptor agonist with negligible affinity for other neuronal receptors, including gamma-aminobutyric acid and benzodiazepine receptors. It was found effective in increasing total sleep time and sleep efficiency, as well as in reducing sleep latency, in insomnia patients. The melatonergic antidepressant agomelatine, displaying potent MT1 and MT2 melatonergic agonism and relatively weak serotonin 5HT2C receptor antagonism, reportedly is effective in the treatment of depression associated insomnia. This article presents the currently available evidence regarding the effects of these compounds on sleep quality and their possible use in menopause associated sleep disturbances.
Alternative Options to Manage Menopausal Symptoms with a Focus on Melatonin and Osteoporosis
Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmaceutics, 2014
Many menopausal women are seeking symptomatic relief from hot flushes, irritability, sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression, and to prevent bone loss. Instead of pharmaceutical approaches, many women are opting for alternative modalities such as yoga, meditation and natural products. Melatonin is a molecule released from the pineal gland in response to darkness and is commonly used as a sleep aid due to its soporific effects and/or due to its ability to reentrain circadian rhythms out of synchrony with the light dark cycle. The focus of this mini-review is to highlight the novel use of melatonin on managing menopausal symptoms and menopausal bone loss and describe food sources that are rich in melatonin.
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...