Generic name: melatonin [ meh-lah-TOE-nin ]
Drug classes:Miscellaneous anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics, Nutraceutical products
What is Melatonin?
Melatonin is the natural hormone your body secretes that helps to maintain your wake-sleep cycle (also called “biological clock”). Melatonin is also made synthetically and available without a prescription as an over-the-counter (OTC) dietary supplement in the U.S.
Melatonin is most commonly used to:
- help decrease jet lag
- adjust sleep cycles in the blind (non 24-Hour Sleep Wake Disorder, or Non-24)
- treat shift-work sleep disorders in people with alternating work schedules
- for general insomnias
The wake-sleep cycle is the process of sleep and wakefulness; in humans this averages 8 hours of nighttime sleep and 16 hours of daytime activity.
Supplemental Melatonin has been suggested to have many uses, from sleep disorders to cancer treatment, but adequate studies are lacking for many uses. It has been widely studied for treatment of jet lag and other sleep disorders.
Endogenous melatonin release (made by our bodies) is increased each day in response to darkness, peaking between 11PM and 3AM at roughly 200 picograms (pg) per mL. Nighttime levels are roughly 10 times higher than in the daytime. Levels fall sharply before daylight, and are barely detectable in the daylight hours. The rise and fall in endogenous levels signal wake and sleep times, known as our circadian rhythm.
Natural melatonin production starts from the amino acid tryptophan, with serotonin as an intermediary, and then is released to the receptors in the brain, eye and other areas to help control the sleep quality and wake cycles. The half-life is short, roughly 20 to 50 minutes. It is metabolized (broken down) by the CYP450 enzyme system in the liver and then ...
