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Melatonin improves heart failure in men and women
A clinical trial found melatonin intake reduced a blood marker of heart failure and led to better quality of life, compared with a placebo, in patients diagnosed with stable heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Stable heart failure with reduced ejection fraction develops when the left ventricle of the heart fails to contract normally.1
Participants in the melatonin group and the placebo group began the trial with similar levels of NT-pro BNP, which may be an indicator of heart failure when elevated. At the end of the trial, the group that received melatonin had significantly lower NT-pro BNP levels. Participants who received melatonin saw levels of NT-pro BNP decline to 221.1 ng/L, while levels increased slightly to an average of 332.1 ng/L in those who received a placebo.
Melatonin participants also experienced significant improvements in clinical outcome, quality of life and the New York Heart Association classification of heart failure compared with the placebo group.
The April 2022 issue of Clinical Cardiology reported the trial findings. Eighty-five patients diagnosed with stable heart failure with reduced ejection fraction received 10 milligrams of melatonin or a placebo nightly for 24 weeks.
The hormone melatonin coordinates circadian rhythms and helps induce sleep. Research suggests the decline in melatonin levels that occurs during aging contributes to insomnia and other aging-associated conditions.
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Apply What You've Learned: Melatonin
- The body produces the hormone melatonin in several places: the brain, the eyes, the gastrointestinal tract, bone marrow, skin and in a type of white blood cell known as lymphocytes.2 Diminishing melatonin production as we age can result in sleep difficulties.3 Many people consume melatonin before bedtime to help themselves fall asleep faster and experience more restful sleep.
- Melatonin’s ability to promote sleep can make trips across time zones easier for travelers. Because melatonin helps regulate the body’s circadian rhythms, it may help reduce the effects of jet lag.4
- This antioxidant helps decrease damaging free radicals that form within the body.5
- Because inadequate sleep negatively impacts immune function, getting a better night’s rest with melatonin can support immune system health. Melatonin also directly benefits health in conditions involving abnormal immune responses, including aging.3, 6,7
References
- Hoseini SG et al. Clin Cardiol. 2022 Apr;45(4):417-426.
- Srinivasan V et al. Recent Pat Endocr Metab Immune Drug Discov. 2011 May;5(2):109-23.
- Hardeland R. Aging Dis. 2012 Apr; 3(2): 194–225.
- Herxheimer A et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2002;(2):CD001520.
- Tan DX et al. Molecules. 2015 Oct 16;20(10):18886-906.
- Besedovsky L et al. Pflugers Arch. 2012 Jan;463(1):121-37.
- Bondy SC et al. Curr Aging Sci. 2020;13(2):92-101.
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