Melatonin: Regulating The Body's Biological Clock

Melatonin is a hormone that is released from your pineal gland in response to the cycle of light and darkness. At night, more melatonin is produced, helping you to relax and sleep. During the morning and daylight hours, production goes down, allowing you to stay alert and active during the day. If you're having trouble sleeping at night, your melatonin may be too low. If you're sleepy during the day, it may be too high, or the natural rhythm of melatonin may be disrupted.

Melatonin's influence, however, goes far beyond sleep. This hormone helps to regulate all of the sex hormones in the body, influences body temperature, stimulates the immune system and promotes cardiovascular health. Considering its broad spectrum of activity, it's not too surprising that it also exerts an influence over arthritic conditions.

One study found that daytime melatonin levels of patients with inflammatory conditions were lower than in healthy subjects. Interestingly, melatonin is structurally similar to the drug indomethacin, which is often used successfully to treat patients with inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Some animal studies, on the other hand, suggest that high levels of melatonin, induced by constant exposure to darkness, can exacerbate arthritis, and that inhibition of melatonin release, in such cases, has a beneficial effect. Melatonin stimulates the immune system and tends to counter the effects of cortisol (one of our adrenal stress hormones) which helps to keep inflammation from getting out of control. Consequently, it is possible that an excess of melatonin can lead to a worsening of joint pain.

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References:

1. Armstrong SM, Redman JR. Melatonin: a chronobiotic with anti-aging properties? Med Hypotheses 1991;34(4):300-9.
2. Hansson I, Holmdahl R, Mattsson R. Pinealectomy ameliorates collagen II-induced arthritis in mice. Clin Exp Immunol 1993 Jun;92(3):432-6.
3. Maestroni GJ. The immunoneuroendrine role of melatonin. J Pineal Res 1993;14(1):1-10.
4. West SK, Oosthuizen JM. Melatonin levels are decreased in rheumatoid arthritis. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol 1992 Jan-Mar;3(1):33-40.

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