PMID: 9556093Apr 29, 1998Paper

Melatonin: marvel or marker?

Annals of Medicine
D F KripkeJ S Smith

Abstract

Melatonin blanches the skin of frogs, whitens the fur of hamsters, and sometimes makes the gonads atrophy. It is remarkable that such a hormone would be put forward as a defense against ageing. We have been examining excretion of the urinary metabolite of melatonin, 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (6-SMT), in 150 postmenopausal women, in 72 volunteers over the age of 60 years who complained of insomnia or depression, and in 20 healthy younger adult controls, aged 18-40 years. The acrophase or fitted peak of 6-SMT excretion was computed as a marker of the timing of the circadian system. Total daily excretion of 6-SMT was not significantly related to total sleep time, wake-within-sleep or sleep complaints. Nevertheless, whereas the 20 controls displayed a normal range of 6-SMT acrophases from 01.32 to 05.44 h, 42% of the postmenopausal women and 48% of the symptomatic elders had acrophases outside this normal range. Those volunteers with more deviant acrophases displayed more disturbed sleep and more sleep complaints. These data suggest that melatonin is a useful marker of circadian rhythm phase disorders, but suggest a need for more caution in melatonin administration.

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Citations

Mar 15, 2005·Physiology & Behavior·G Jean-LouisA Wolintz
Nov 24, 1999·The American Journal of Medicine·J M ZeitzerC A Czeisler
May 5, 2001·Mechanisms of Ageing and Development·V M Mendoza-NúñezM A Altamirano-Lozano
Feb 3, 2000·Mechanisms of Ageing and Development·B P Yu
May 22, 2003·Psychiatry Research·Daniel F KripkeJeffrey A Elliott
Jan 25, 2003·Experimental Gerontology·Julie A MattisonDonald K Ingram
Apr 9, 2004·BMC Psychiatry·Daniel F KripkeRobert D Langer
Dec 18, 2004·Behavioral Sleep Medicine·Christopher R PalmerJeffrey A Elliott
Nov 21, 2007·CNS Drugs·Seithikurippu R Pandi-PerumalDaniel P Cardinali
Sep 9, 2005·Chronobiology International·D F KripkeM R Marler
Jul 10, 2013·Annals of Medicine·Timo Partonen
Nov 24, 2007·Clinics in Geriatric Medicine·Nalaka S Gooneratne
Jan 12, 2008·Journal of Circadian Rhythms·Girardin Jean-LouisArthur H Wolintz
Sep 16, 2017·Journal of Child Neurology·Ana Checa-RosMaría Del Carmen Augustín-Morales
Nov 7, 2007·The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine·Víctor Manuel Mendoza-NúñezJosé Luis Muñoz-Sánchez

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