published by nonprofit Johns Hopkins Press
posted in Complementary Alternative Medicine on March 23, 2021 by
Updated January 13, 2024
This blog on “Melatonin For Lupus May be Good Per the Best Medical Evidence [NEW!]” was edited and contributed to by Donald Thomas, MD; author of “The Lupus Encyclopedia.” Parts of this blog post come from “The Lupus Encyclopedia: A Comprehensive Guide for Patients and Health Care Providers, edition 2“
(Updated August 2021)
Many people think that melatonin for lupus and other autoimmune diseases is unsafe. I believe it is due to there being outdated websites and patient education pages that state this. For example, it even occurs on highly-acclaimed sites such as the Mayo Clinic.
However, how can the Mayo Clinic be wrong?
Without a doubt: many excellent websites produced their patient education pages a long time ago.
In addition, there are not enough staff to check and update them on a regular basis.
Certainly the doctors are way too busy to do this: they are taking care of patients and doing research.
– Firstly, one problem in lupus is that there are lower numbers of important white blood cells called Tregs (regulatory T-cells).
– Tregs help to normalize the immune system and prevent overactivity.
– For instance, when there are less Tregs (a common problem in lupus), bad B-cells that make dangerous lupus autoantibodies (such as anti-dsDNA) can live a very long time (and even forever, “immortal”).
– Secondly, melatonin affects the immune system. One of the things it can do is increase these important Tregs that could be helpful in lupus and other autoimmune diseases
– As an example, the 2013 research article referenced below by Lin GJ et al and the 2019 article by Zhao et al go into detail about this
– In another case, an experiment was performed on female mice that were prone to getting lupus. Surprisingly, they were less likely to develop lupus when fed melatonin per Zou!
– This was shown in a 2010 study by Zou LL et al and another in 2008 by Jimenez-Caliani AJ et al (referenced below)
– However, there are no studies of using melatonin in people with lupus.
– This is a huge reason why it is incorrect to tell people with lupus not to use melatonin, because there is no evidence to support that recommendation.
– Nevertheless, there is a study in people with rheumatoid arthritis (a related autoimmune disease).
– Contrarily, melatonin did NOT worsen rheumatoid arthritis in these patients (Maestroni et al, referenced below)
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Firstly, I do not ask my patients with lupus to avoid melatonin.
Secondly, there is actually more evidence that melatonin may be beneficial for lupus rather than harmful.
Thirdly, lupus patient education websites should remove their recommendations to avoid melatonin.
Finally, these sites and pages about melatonin for lupus are outdated.
Read chapters 3, 38, and 39 of The Lupus Encyclopedia, edition 2
Look up your symptoms, conditions, and medications in the Index of The Lupus Encyclopedia
If you enjoy the information from The Lupus Encyclopedia, please click the “SUPPORT” button at the top of the page to learn how you can help.
If you have taken melatonin, what has your experience been? What do you recommend for other patients?
Do you have any questions to ask Dr. Thomas?
Please click on “Leave a Comment” above to comment.
Click on “SUPPORT” at the top of the page to learn how you can support “The Lupus Encyclopedia“
Don Thomas, MD, author of “The Lupus Encyclopedia” and “The Lupus Secrets“
Andersen LP, Gögenur I, Rosenberg J, Reiter RJ. The Safety of Melatonin in Humans. Clin Drug Investig. 2016 Mar;36(3):169-75. doi: 10.1007/s40261-015-0368-5. PMID: 26692007.
Jimenez-Caliani AJ, Jimenez-Jorge S, Molinero P, Rubio A, Guerrero JM, Osuna C. Treatment with testosterone or estradiol in melatonin treated females and males MRL/MpJ-Faslpr mice induces negative effects in developing systemic lupus erythematosus. J Pineal Res. 2008 Sep;45(2):204-11. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-079X.2008.00578.x. Epub 2008 May 27. PMID: 18507713.
Lin GJ, Huang SH, Chen SJ, Wang CH, Chang DM, Sytwu HK. Modulation by melatonin of the pathogenesis of inflammatory autoimmune diseases. Int J Mol Sci. 2013 May 31;14(6):11742-66. doi: 10.3390/ijms140611742. PMID: 23727938; PMCID: PMC3709754.
Maestroni GJ, Otsa K, Cutolo M. Melatonin treatment does not improve rheumatoid arthritis. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2008;65(5):797-798. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2125.2007.03088.x
Zhou LL, Wei W, Si JF, Yuan DP. Regulatory effect of melatonin on cytokine disturbances in the pristane-induced lupus mice. Mediators Inflamm. 2010;2010:951210. doi: 10.1155/2010/951210. Epub 2010 Jul 20. PMID: 20706659; PMCID: PMC2913856.
Read more in The Lupus Encyclopedia, edition 2
Look up your symptoms, conditions, and medications in the Index of The Lupus Encyclopedia
If you enjoy the information from The Lupus Encyclopedia, please click the “SUPPORT” button at the top of the page to learn how you can help.
If you have lupus, what has your experience been? What do you recommend for other patients?
Do you have any questions to ask Dr. Thomas?
Please click on “Leave a Comment” above to comment.
Click on “SUPPORT” at the top of the page to learn how you can support “The Lupus Encyclopedia“
Hello Dr Thomas! Do you have any thoughts on the fairly recent study from American Academy of Sleep Medicine regarding Melatonin amounts being unreliable in various Melatonin products? We stopped our melatonin when this came out. It said you couldn’t rely on the amount of Melatonin in a given pill. If it says 3MG, it actually could be 10 or 5 or 1MG. https://aasm.org/study-finds-that-melatonin-content-of-supplements-varies-widely/
Thank you for all you do for us!!!
Thanks for bringing this article to my attention, Kelly. Not surprising at all. We have seen the same with vitamin D3, DHEA, and others. I wish the Congress would allow better FDA oversight.
I recommend subscribing to consumerlab.com. They test products and reveal which are good quality through their testing.
I hope that helps (I always check them out before buying supplements)… or I get them from a compounding pharmacist (but that is expensive)
https://www.consumerlab.com/reviews/melatonin-supplements/melatonin/?search=Melatonin
Donald Thomas, MD
Anne: You are absolutely correct. It is similar for all OTC supplements (vitamin D, DHEA etc) that we often use in lupus, so we prefer compounded products or prescription for quality control.
Thanks for your input. I agree that “does affect” is less formal than “melatonin affects.”
Thank you for reading and commenting.
Donald Thomas, MD
[…] This is because some practitioners actually allow melatonin treatment to lupus patients. Dr. Donald Thomas is an example of a practitioner who allows lupus patients to follow melatonin treatment, demonstrating that it can be beneficial and safe for such individuals.There is enough evidence to support this theory, but more research is needed to confirm the results. Let’s dig deeper into the study data.[3] […]
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