# Use of melatonin in IBD



## wildbill_52280 (Dec 20, 2013)

although from 2010, I thought this was good study because it is in humans. and melatonin is super cheap, 5.00 for a 3 month supply. 


Ter Arkh. 2010;82(12):64-8.
*[Use of melatonin in combined treatment for inflammatory bowel diseases].*
[Article in Russian]
Rakhimova OIu.

Abstract

AIM:
to provide rationale for and develop treatment regimens using melatonin for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).
SUBJECTS AND METHODS:
Prior to and 30 days after treatment, colonic mucosal biopsy specimens were studied by electron microscopy in 40 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) in whom the diagnosis was verified by the examination and morphological study of the colonic mucosa. The patients were divided into 2 groups: 1) traditional pathogenetic therapy; 2) combined therapy using melatonin.

RESULTS:
Following 30-day therapy using melatonin, signs of inflammatory infiltration were absent in 77.8% of the patients with CD. Minor inflammatory infiltrates consisting mainly of lymphoid cells and solitary granulocytes persisted in the mucosa and submucosal layer in 44.4% of the CD patients receiving the therapy without melatonin. The surface of columnar cells exhibited villi in 77.8%; however, a brush border failed to form in all cells. One month after therapy using melatonin, the ultrastructure of the colonic mucosa was normal in the patients with UC. Inflammatory infiltration and dystrophy were absent in 88.8% of cases. Small inflammatory infiltrates consisting of lymphocytes were seen in occasional mucosal portions in 50% of the melatonin-untreated patients with UC. There was focal plethora in the vessels.

CONCLUSION:
The use of melatonin in combined therapy for IBD considerably improves the results of treatment and promotes a more complete ultrastructural recovery of the colonic mucosa.


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## ellie (Dec 20, 2013)

Very interesting - not something I'd heard of before...
Will go browsing and see if there's more about it. Any idea of the mechanism of action?


 HD


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## Nims22 (Dec 20, 2013)

I could have sworn I read somewhere that melatonin is not good for IBD, but I have used it anyway from time to time and never noticed any problems from it. It's so much better to get good sleep. Glad to know there is a study that says it can be helpful.


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## wildbill_52280 (Dec 20, 2013)

ellie said:


> Very interesting - not something I'd heard of before...
> Will go browsing and see if there's more about it. Any idea of the mechanism of action?
> 
> 
> HD



mechanism of action? perhaps hundreds!!

it seems higher melatonin levels are correlated with better states of ibd as if our ability to produce it, makes our diseases better. there were some hypothesis that adding more melatonin might make disease worse, and there was one report that it may have made one patient with ibd worse, but there is much more reason to believe their would be a benefit rather then a worsening of the disease. im trying to find more studies on it, i have looked into this in the past dont recall everything i read at the moment though. im afraid like most natural therapys, they just go unnoticed and undeveloped. only scientists are interested, and not corporations. kind of like HGH, butyric acid, and fecal transplants. but fecal transplants are really going somewhere now. other wise FT have been used for about 50 years.

another thing about studys method of measuring improvement, its pretty good compared to something like using a cdai score. they took samples of the intestinal tissue right from the patient before and after,its extremely objective and seem like good science here, or at least judging only from the abstract.


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## wildbill_52280 (Dec 20, 2013)

Nims22 said:


> I could have sworn I read somewhere that melatonin is not good for IBD, but I have used it anyway from time to time and never noticed any problems from it. It's so much better to get good sleep. Glad to know there is a study that says it can be helpful.


there is one report of someone worsening after taking melatonin, im not sure if it was a really good study though, it may have been a case report and just a coincidence. or perhaps the worseining was actually them getting better. sometimes some treatments momentarily cause an increase in symptoms, but after wards they slowly reside. i would take that report with a grain of salt. especially when you have a study like this that exists. this studies design trumps a case report.


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## wildbill_52280 (Dec 21, 2013)

this study was in a mouse, but adds more weight to the human study, and wa spublished this month.

Dig Dis Sci. 2013 Dec;58(12):3460-74. doi: 10.1007/s10620-013-2831-6. Epub 2013 Aug 23.

*
Melatonin reduces ulcerative colitis-associated local and systemic damage in mice: investigation on possible mechanisms.*

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS:
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder. Substantial research reveals that melatonin has beneficial effects in ulcerative colitis both experimentally and clinically. We have previously reported that ulcerative colitis was associated with local and systemic damage in mice. The purpose of this study was to reveal the novel targets of melatonin in its protective mechanism against ulcerative colitis in mice. We also wished to determine whether or not melatonin protected against ulcerative colitis-induced systemic damage in mice.

METHODS:
Ulcerative colitis was induced in mice by use of 3 % (w/v) dextran sulfate sodium for two cycles. One cycle comprised 7 days of DSS-treated water followed by 14 days of normal drinking water. Melatonin was administered at doses of 2, 4, or 8 mg/kg bw/day, po throughout. The effect of melatonin in mice with UC was evaluated by use of biochemical data, histological evaluation, comet and micronucleus assays, immunohistochemistry, and western blot analysis.

RESULTS:
The results indicated that melatonin treatment ameliorated the severity of ulcerative colitis by modulating a variety of molecular targets, for example nuclear factor kappa B, cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin 17, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2, matrix metalloproteinase-9, and connective tissue growth factor. Further, ulcerative colitis increased gut permeability, plasma lipopolysaccharide level, systemic inflammation, and genotoxicity. Melatonin treatment led to mucosal healing and reduced ulcerative colitis-induced elevated gut permeability and reduced the plasma LPS level, systemic inflammation, and genotoxicity.

CONCLUSION:
Melatonin ameliorated ulcerative colitis-associated local and systemic damage in mice.


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## Nims22 (Dec 21, 2013)

I think when I first bought it I checked online and saw some cautionary statement for IBD. I sleep terribly. I should probably go for a sleep study... But hard to squeeze that in right now because I keep having flares and disasters. But good to know it is more likely to help than harm if I need to take it for now. I noticed in higher doses (10mg time released) it makes me really irritable the next day!


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## mf15 (Dec 21, 2013)

Here are a few links from my old melatonin thread on healingwell.
Old Mike
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/health/05light.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0



melatonin and UC

http://www.livar.net/uploadedfiles/article/melatoninandulcerativecolitis.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21893693

not much on human uc some conflicting reports,immue activation possibly,i gues it depends on

your condition.

http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v17/i34/3888.htm

shift work increases prevalence,lighting at night

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1378665/





http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12163849

http://pmj.bmj.com/content/81/960/667.full.pdf



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22654792

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18073503

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16192667



increased release of beta endorphins /LDN works this way

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15639542



more

http://www.seco-project.eu/dev/labo/files/publications/claustrat 05 sleep med rev.pdf



immune sys

http://ar.newsmth.net/att/15d623972688fd/0005R.pdf


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## DamnitCrohns (Dec 21, 2013)

Interesting... i like the part about it being cheap  Might consider buying some just to add it to my collection of pill/capsule bottles on my shelf haha.


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## wildbill_52280 (Dec 21, 2013)

Nims22 said:


> I think when I first bought it I checked online and saw some cautionary statement for IBD. I sleep terribly. I should probably go for a sleep study... But hard to squeeze that in right now because I keep having flares and disasters. But good to know it is more likely to help than harm if I need to take it for now. I noticed in higher doses (10mg time released) it makes me really irritable the next day!


 i wish i had all the calculations to show you, but when i tried to look up all teh info and calculate what a 1 milligram melatonin supplement would be in relation to any quantitiy naturally obtainable to common foods that contain melatonin like corn, rice, barley oats cherries etc, 1 mg was super high like at leats 10,000 more times the amount you would naturally be able to obtain in common foods. i thought that was a reasonable way to determine a safe dose. 

so just think about what that might mean to take a 10 milligram supplement. even though this stuff has super low toxicity and wont kill you from a single does or even multiple doses, taking it in such a high amount for a long time has to be venturing out a little too far into the unknown, and who knows what the consequences could be. personally i would never take more then 1 milligram.


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## wildbill_52280 (Dec 21, 2013)

Nims22 said:


> I think when I first bought it I checked online and saw some cautionary statement for IBD. I sleep terribly. I should probably go for a sleep study... But hard to squeeze that in right now because I keep having flares and disasters. But good to know it is more likely to help than harm if I need to take it for now. I noticed in higher doses (10mg time released) it makes me really irritable the next day!



Nims22, do you take melatonin everyday? and for how long? if you think it is helping you, how do you know that it is? you seem to be taking alot of meds, i guess its hard to know what contributions it may have to your disease.


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## wildbill_52280 (Dec 21, 2013)

Here is a reference to what i mentioned earlier and it is a human study. People with mild disease had higher levels of melatonin, and those with severe disease, had lower levels. This highly suggests, but may not prove conclusively, that their ability to make more melatonin may be responsible for better disease state.




Pol Merkur Lekarski. 2007 May;22(131):369-72.

*24-hour urinary 6-hydroxymelatonin sulfate excretion in patients with ulcerative colitis*
[Article in Polish]

Abstract
The cause and factors determining the chronic course of ulcerative colitis (UC) remain unknown. Melatonin is synthetised in the gastrointestinal tract and plays a crucial role in the protection of gastrointestinal mucosa and modulation of the immune system. Melatonin is metabolised to 6-hydroxymelatonin sulfate (6HMS) and excreted into urine. Urine 6HMS concentration corresponds well with the total level of melatonin in the body. The aim of the study was to evaluate 24-hour urine excretion of 6HMS in UC and its correlation with severity of the disease.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:
The studied group comprised 24 patients with UC (aged 17-58 years, mean age 33 years) admitted on the reason of UC relapse. The control group comprised 25 healthy volunteers (aged 18-49 years, mean age 35 years). The patients with UC were clinically scored and underwent colonoscopy. The subjects collected the total volume of urine excreted during a 24-hour period. 6HMS in urine was calculated using ELISA method. RESULTS. The average 24-hour urine excretion of 6HMS was 26.06 +/- 15.15 microg in UC patients and 15.09 +/- 6.37 microg in healthy subjects (p < 0.001). The urine level of 6HMS tended to be increased in mild, related to severe course of the disease.

CONCLUSIONS:
The average 24-hour urine excretion of 6HMS in UC patients is higher than in healthy persons and negatively associated with severity of UC. Melatonin seems to be a part of anti-inflammatory response and its high level may appease the course of UC.


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## Nims22 (Jan 4, 2014)

I don't use it every day. I used to take 3mg a night most nights for a month or two and I slept better... But it seemed to have less of an effect over time. Then I bought the 10mg time released melatonin. I only notice the severe irritability when I take it. I wouldn't really attribute it to anything else I take, since it only happens the day following the rare times that I take the higher dose melatonin. I suppose a smaller dose would be best. I am also very thin and small... So 10mg is probably too much.


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## Miss Underestimated (Jan 31, 2014)

This vid is about sleep problems and IBD, but it also includes discussion of melatonin, and cites another mouse study. This is my doctor, BTW.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/819297


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