Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol

Is melatonin use linked to development of CVD or type 2 diabetes?

May 8, 2024

Researchers analyzed up to 23 years of follow-up data from three large prospective cohorts of middle-aged and older men and women and found that self-reported melatonin supplement use was not associated with risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) or CV disease (CVD). They concluded that further research is warranted to assess if melatonin supplement use could mitigate the potential risks of T2D and CVD associated with rotating night shift work.

• Melatonin supplement use in the study cohorts doubled over recent decades from less than 2% in 1998-2007 to 4% or higher in 2014-15 (4.0% in men and 5.3% in women).
• 16,917 incident CV disease events occurred during 2,609,068 person-years of follow-up and 12,730 incident cases of T2D during 2,701,830 person-years of follow-up.
• In a pooled analysis of the three cohorts, comparing users with non-users of melatonin supplements, the pooled multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios were 0.94 (95% CI 0.83-1.06, p=0.32) for CVD and 0.98 (0.86-1.12, p=0.80) for T2D. In secondary analyses, melatonin supplement use appeared to attenuate the positive association between long-term shift work (>5 years) and risk of CVD among female nurses.

Source:

Li Y, et al. (2024, May 3). Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. Use of melatonin supplements and risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in the USA: insights from three prospective cohort studies. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38710189/