Venaki E, Koukkou E, Ilias I. Melatonin’s actions are not limited to sleep. World J Exp Med 2023; 13(2): 4-6 [PMID: 36970311 DOI: 10.5493/wjem.v13.i2.4]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ioannis Ilias, MD, PhD, Consultant Physician-Scientist, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Elena Venizelou Hospital, 2, Elena Venizelou Sq., Athens GR-11521, Greece. iiliasmd@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Exp Med. Mar 14, 2023; 13(2): 4-6 Published online Mar 14, 2023. doi: 10.5493/wjem.v13.i2.4
Melatonin’s actions are not limited to sleep
Evangelia Venaki, Eftychia Koukkou, Ioannis Ilias
Evangelia Venaki, Eftychia Koukkou, Ioannis Ilias, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Elena Venizelou Hospital, Athens GR-11521, Greece
Author contributions: All the authors have collaborated in the conception, research and writing of this contribution.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ioannis Ilias, MD, PhD, Consultant Physician-Scientist, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Elena Venizelou Hospital, 2, Elena Venizelou Sq., Athens GR-11521, Greece. iiliasmd@yahoo.com
Received: December 5, 2022 Peer-review started: December 5, 2022 First decision: January 17, 2023 Revised: January 18, 2023 Accepted: February 21, 2023 Article in press: February 21, 2023 Published online: March 14, 2023
Abstract
Melatonin is widely available as a supplement, usually for sleep disorders. The consumption of melatonin supplements has increased considerably in recent years. An overlooked aspect of melatonin’s administration is the resulting increase in prolactin secretion, via its action on hypothalamic dopaminergic neurons. We believe that since the effect of melatonin on prolactin is tangible, the laboratory finding of hyperprolactinemia could be encountered more often, given the increase in melatonin’s use. This is an issue that merits further study.
Core Tip: Melatonin, although being an active hormone, is widely available as a supplement. The consumption of melatonin supplements has increased considerably in recent years. Melatonin may increase prolactin. The laboratory finding of hyperprolactinemia could be encountered more often, given the increase in melatonin’s use.
