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Reduced melatonin levels linked to low assessment scores among fibromyalgia patients
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Women with fibromyalgia showed lower levels of melatonin and assessment scores, compared with healthy controls, according to data from a recent study.
Researchers in Brazil matched 58 women with primary fibromyalgia (FM) and 39 healthy controls by age and BMI. All participants provided urine samples, collected during a 12-hour overnight period, that were used to measure 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (6-SMT) by using ELISA. Researchers conducted four assessments: Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Controls did not complete FIQ assessments.
Urine samples indicated that mean 6-SMT levels were lower in FM patients (8.52 ng/mL vs. 13.32 ng/mL), compared with controls (P=.017). The mean PSQI results for controls was 7.64 points, compared with 11.69 in FM patients (P<.0001). SF-36 results indicated a difference in averages in seven of eight domains between the groups (P<.0001). FM patients averaged 19.6 points on SWLS, compared with 23.5 points by controls (P=.004). FIQ data for FM patients (mean of 77.02 of 100 points) indicated that their disease interfered with their quality of life.
“Our results demonstrate that the excretion of 6-SMT in the darkness hours was 36% lower in FM patients than in healthy subjects,” researchers said. “Our findings corroborate … that patients with FM have lower levels of melatonin and worse scores on assessment instruments than healthy individuals.
“These findings led us to believe that melatonin could be interfering directly in the clinical presentation of these patients. More controlled studies should be performed in order to evaluate the real role of melatonin in both the pathophysiology and the treatment of [FM] syndrome.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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